(Kyle Terada, USA TODAY Sports)

Six months ago, Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom was as down as you could be, and understandably so, after being denied a chance to play in the gold medal game.

He tested positive for an elevated level of pseudoephedrine after taking the same allergy medicine he had taken every day for seven years.

Canada ended up winning the Feb. 23 game 3-0, but because of the doping investigation, Backstrom wasn’t given his silver medal.

The International Olympic Committee ruled on March 14 that the one-game ban was sufficient punishment, that he wasn’t taking the medication for competitive advantage and he could receive the medal after all.

That finally happened Thursday at a ceremony in Sweden. Good to see the smile back on his face.

Thanks to Russian Machine Never Breaks for the tip