Russians win hockey gold with 4-3 OT win over Germany
GANGNEUNG, Korea, Republic Of — The Olympic anthem was merely background noise, the doping scandal the farthest thing from their minds.
As the white flag with the five Olympic rings rose toward the rafters Sunday following the gold medal game in men’s hockey, the champion Russians in their nondescript red-and-white uniforms joined their fans cloaked in red, white and blue and belted out the “State Anthem of the Russian Federation,” drowning out the recorded song that was required as part of International Olympic Committee sanctions.
This Olympic title meant so much more to the Russians, no matter that the tournament was missing NHL players and the “Olympic Athletes from Russia” were all here only after months of scandal.
Joyous players tossed coach Oleg Znarok in the air at centre ice as fans let out the same “ROSS-I-YA” chants that filled the arena in Sochi four years ago, where home ice meant nothing as the Russians lost in the quarterfinals. There was no such disappointment this time as the Russians triumphed in the tournament they were favoured to win, capturing gold with a 4-3 overtime victory over Germany after Kirill Kaprizov’s power-play goal capped a classic final and gave the nation a jubilant moment following weeks of disappointment.