It was Canada's 16th gold but first since 2009 and it did not
come easy.
Russia left a capacity Air Canada Centre crowd, which included
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, on the edge of their seats until
the final buzzer.
Leading 5-1 late in the second period, Canada nearly let the
victory slip away as Russia scored three quick goals to slash
the deficit to one goal.
But the Russians could not complete the comeback as Canadian
netminder Zach Fucale shut out the visitors in the final period.
Canada scored 23 seconds after the opening faceoff on a goal
from Anthony Duclair. Nick Paul put Canada 2-1 up before Dmitri
Yudin pulled one back for Russia before the end of the opening
period.
Canada looked ready to pull away in the second, going 5-1 up on
goals from Max Domi, Sam Reinhart and Connor McDavid, the most
talked about player since Sidney Crosby and widely expected to
be the number one pick in this year's NHL draft.
But the Russians would answer back with three quick tallies late
in the period, Ivan Barbashev and Sergei Tolchinski scoring 32
seconds apart and Nikolai Goldobin adding another.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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