Even with Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Bobrovsky back in North America, this gold medal was particularly sweet because of the backdrop of sanctions and the Russians' almost three-decade drought. Winning this gold medal at his fifth Olympics meant more to 39-year-old captain Pavel Datsyuk than the two times he lifted the Stanley Cup. A silver medal gave Germany its best finish at the Olympics after capturing bronze in 1932 and 1976. Beating Germany, which stunned eventual bronze-medalist Canada to reach the final , gave the Russians their first gold medal in hockey since 1992 in Albertville when they competed as the Community of Independent States. A penalty on Reimer gave Russia a power play and Kaprizov scored one of the biggest goals in Russian hockey history.

Source: ABC News February 25, 2018 07:13 UTC