Team Canada is golden once again.

The Canadian women defeated their Team USA rivals 3-2 in Thursday's gold medal clash. This marks the fifth time in the last six Olympics that Canada has taken home the gold, losing to the Americans last time around in 2018.

Canada appeared to open the scoring early in the first period but the goal was called back after a coach's challenge determined the play offside. Minutes later, Sarah Nurse got Canada on the board. Marie-Phillip Poulin added another tally to give the Canadians a 2-0 edge at the end of the first.

Poulin picked things up where she left off in the second, burying a tough rebound to put Canada up 3-0. With an assist on the goal, Nurse broke Hayley Wickenheiser's Olympic single-tournament record with her 18th point in Beijing. Hilary Knight finally got the Americans on the board with a shorthanded goal late in the second.

The third didn't provide much until the dying seconds when the Americans managed to score a power-play marker to pull within one. It ended up being too little too late as Canada hung on for the win.

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The Chicago Blackhawks are interested in Toronto Raptors vice president of basketball operations and player development Teresa Resch for the team's vacant general manager position, reports Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

The Blackhawks indicated they would look outside the hockey world for options when they started searching for a new GM. The club recently confirmed that it interviewed Chicago Cubs assistant GM Jeff Greenberg.

Resch was one of Raptors president Masai Ujiri's first hires when he joined the organization in 2013. She previously worked in the NBA's head office.

The Blackhawks have already interviewed several candidates for the GM position, including interim GM Kyle Davidson, Peter Chiarelli, Mathieu Darche, Scott Mellanby, and Eric Tulsky.

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Adam Brooks is back with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Leafs claimed the 25-year-old forward off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, according to CapFriendly.

It marks the third time this season Brooks has been claimed off waivers. The Montreal Canadiens initially claimed him from Toronto at the start of the season. Vegas then scooped him up from Montreal in November.

Brooks has registered two goals and one assist in 11 games this season split between the Habs and Knights. He tallied four goals and four helpers in 18 contests in a fourth-line role with the Maple Leafs during the previous two campaigns.

Toronto selected Brooks in the fourth round of the 2016 draft.

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Marc-Andre Fleury's immediate future is a significant storyline ahead of the NHL trade deadline, but he shed some light on his long-term thinking Wednesday.

"I don't have that much left. So (I'll) enjoy this season and hopefully next season again and then after that, we'll see," the Chicago Blackhawks goaltender said, according to NBC Sports Chicago's Charlie Roumeliotis.

The 37-year-old pending unrestricted free agent would be one of the biggest names available if he consents to being dealt ahead of the frenzy on March 21. Fleury made it clear Wednesday he hasn't decided on his plans in that regard, but he added he'd prefer to play for a contender if it comes to that.

Fleury was initially reluctant to play for the Blackhawks because he didn't want to move his family to an unfamiliar city and needed time to determine his future after the Vegas Golden Knights traded him in July. But after spending about half a season with his new team, the veteran netminder said he'd be open to re-signing with Chicago.

Fleury is in the final season of a three-year contract he signed with the Golden Knights. It was reported Tuesday that Vegas had shown interest in a reunion, but Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon denied that shortly thereafter.

The three-time Stanley Cup champion puck-stopper has a modified no-trade clause allowing him to submit a list of 10 teams to which he can't be dealt, according to CapFriendly.

Fleury is 16-17-3 with a .910 save percentage for a Blackhawks squad that entered Wednesday's action sitting second-last in the Central Division.

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Team Canada is going home.

Sweden narrowly defeated the Canadians 2-0 in the men's hockey quarterfinals Wednesday. Lucas Wallmark scored the late game-winner off a Team Canada turnover before Sweden added an empty-netter.

Wallmark intercepted a drop pass Canadian forward Jack McBain attempted at his own blue line midway through the third period. The Swede then fired a shot that deflected off defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon's stick and over goaltender Matt Tomkins' shoulder.

Anton Lander added the empty-net goal for insurance.

Lars Johansson wasn't tested much between the pipes for the Swedes, but he was stellar when called upon, stopping all 20 shots he faced in the victory.

Tre Kronor will face the Russian Olympic Committee in the semifinals.

It will be an all-European final four, as Team USA was eliminated earlier Wednesday in a stunning shootout upset against Team Slovakia. The Slovaks will face Finland in the other semifinal.

Canada hasn't won a gold medal in a men's Olympic hockey tournament that didn't feature NHLers since the 1952 Winter Games in Oslo, Norway. This also marks the first time since Turin 2006 that Canada won't come home with a medal of any kind.

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The best bets were good to us on Tuesday night. The Blues picked up a multi-goal regulation win against the Senators, while the Stars and Avalanche gave us a relatively sweat-free under, combining for five goals in a game with a 6.5 total.

We'll aim for another 2-0 night with our best bets.

Panthers (-105) @ Hurricanes (-115)

This game is going to be incredible. By all accounts, we're looking at two of the best teams in the NHL. The Panthers and Hurricanes are tied for second in wins (32) and sit among the league leaders in several key underlying metrics.

There isn't much separating the two, but I have to give the edge to Florida.

At five-on-five, no team has controlled a larger share of the shot attempts or goals than the Panthers. They rank a tad lower (third) in expected goals, but they remain slightly ahead of the Hurricanes in that category as well.

Florida should hold at least a slight advantage during five-on-five play. While the top half of the two sides should essentially cancel each other out, I like the Panthers' depth a little more.

Florida also figures to have an edge in terms of team discipline. Only the Predators have spent more time killing penalties than the Hurricanes this season.

Carolina is an elite team on the penalty kill, but you're playing with fire if you give a team like Florida plenty of power-play opportunities.

This should be a back-and-forth affair, and when all is said and done, I expect the Panthers to leave the ice with two points.

Bet: Panthers (-105)

Ducks (+170) @ Flames (-205)

Remember a few weeks ago when the Flames were treading water in the standings? Their underlying process remained remarkably strong and suggested a big breakout was coming. Well, it's here!

The Flames have won nine of their last 10 games and are full value for it. They have controlled nearly 61% of the shot attempts and 64% of the high-danger chances at five-on-five. Unsurprisingly, both totals rank first in the NHL by several percentage points.

Even in a back-to-back situation, I expect them to heavily dictate play against the Ducks. Anaheim ranks 25th in shot share and 27th in high-danger chance share over the last 10 games.

There's always the possibility that John Gibson steals a game. He's played great this season, stopping 10.4 more goals than expected. Unfortunately for the Ducks, the same can be said of Calgary's netminder.

The Flames rested Jacob Markstrom on Tuesday night so he'd be available for this divisional clash. As well as Gibson has performed, Markstrom looks even better in terms of goals saved above expectation (+11.4). He might well cancel Gibson out.

That's bad news for Anaheim, considering all the edges this Calgary team has elsewhere. The Flames should be able to take care of business inside 60 minutes.

Bet: Flames in regulation (-135)

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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Tuesday was a solid night for shot props. Our picks went 2-1, with Jordan Kyrou falling one short of giving us a perfect 3-0 showing.

We'll look to build on yesterday's success as we go through the best way to approach tonight's four-game slate.

Aleksander Barkov over 3.5 shots (+110)

Barkov is scorching hot. He's tied for 10th in shot attempts over the last eight games, which unsurprisingly has led to significant shot volume. Barkov has recorded at least four shots on goal in seven of the last eight games. He's firing on all cylinders - literally.

While the Hurricanes are a solid shot-suppression team, Barkov appeals to me tonight for a couple of reasons. He tends to see significant workloads (22+ minutes) in close games against quality opponents. For example, he played more than 23 the last time these two met. That's a plus.

So, too, is the fact he's skating on a line with Jonathan Huberdeau. The latter is a pass-first player who tends to defer to his linemates to shoot. That shows in Barkov's numbers. Barkov averages more than 17 shot attempts per 60 minutes of five-on-five play with Huberdeau. By comparison, that number is just over 11 when Sam Reinhart is on the top line.

I think this is a sneaky good spot for Barkov, and I'm happy to back him at plus money.

Alex Pietrangelo over 2.5 shots (-112)

The Avalanche are a solid defensive team, but they aren't without flaws. They struggle with limiting the involvement of opposing defenders, ranking bottom-10 in shots allowed per game to defensemen.

That's good news for Pietrangelo. The veteran blue-liner leads the Golden Knights in shot attempts by nine over the last 10 games. He's generating a lot of shots, and if history is any indication, I expect that to continue tonight.

Pietrangelo has at least three shots on goal in nine of the last 10 games against Colorado, falling just one short in the lone exception.

With Pietrangelo shooting a lot and the Avalanche struggling to limit shot volume versus defensemen, I expect another active night from him.

Todd Cordell is a sports betting writer at theScore. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @ToddCordell.

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