In the short tournament format, a fast start is imperative if you wish to taste success.
Great Britain did just that by dominating the first three minutes of play and holding a two-goal lead through twenty minutes.
First Period
A booming shot from Casey Traill set the tone in the game and though not breaking the deadlock served as a warning to Iceland.
Katie Henry would doubtless have opened the scoring had Captain Saffron Allen not knocked the net of its mooring after delivering a pass to the slot.
Great Britain’s domination of the puck and zone time was only halted after Traill was sent to the box for tripping.
The special teams stood up in the opening frame and the penalty was killed without much drama.
Iceland was finally broken down just before the midway mark.
Katherine Gale tucked home the rebound after a booming shot from the right side.
It was 2-0 just three minutes later as Great Britain’s power play connected.
Jodie Bloom’s shot from the left circle was saved but Beth Hill was on hand to pot the rebound.
The impressive Traill almost made it 3-0 with a solo effort.
Her speed split the defense but couldn’t get a shot away. Undeterred, the defender recovered the puck and forced yet another fine stop by the Icelandic netminder.
Second Period
The middle frame started similarly to the first.
A strong start punctuated by taking a penalty.
GB was dominant until Bloom took a needless penalty 104 seconds in.
That allowed Iceland to grow into the game and Lucy Beal had to make a tremendous defensive play in the slot to deny a sure goal.
GB almost capitalised to score a second power-play goal but had to wait until the second half of the frame to net a third.
A moment to remember for young Aimee Headland as she potted her first goal at the senior level on debut!
Third Period
Head Coach Mike Clancy would have urged his team to not take their foot off the gas in the final frame.
If indeed that was the message, those words were heeded.
Captain Allen scored the team’s fourth goal just four minutes into the period.
Great Britain was indebted to Nicole Jackson and a fantastic glove save seconds after the restart to deny Iceland their first tally of the game.
GB kept pushing and dominated for long stretches without further reward in the goal column.
With 7:19 remaining, Mike Clancy elected to give Ella Howard her first senior action between the pipes, replacing Nicole Jackson.
A fifth and final goal arrived late in the piece but boy was it worth the wait.
Trail with a howitzer of a one-time shot from the left side was certainly the goal of the night and showed the crowd just what a talent the young lady is for the future.
Great Britain 5 – Iceland 0
Lucy Beal was named player of the game for Great Britain despite not recording a point.
It was a justified decision as Beal was terrific from the blue line.
Incredibly smart with and without the puck, tenacious beyond belief and I don’t remember her losing a single puck battle.
UK Hockey Blog 