Great Britain comes from behind twice to win an eight-goal thriller against Lithuania.

Anyone counting Lithuania out following their 7-0 reverse to Italy on day one of the tournament was left with egg on their face.
Lithuania led twice against GB, pushing them all the way until the final minute of the game in a nervous but thrilling encounter.

First Period

In a penalty-ridden game, six infractions were called in the opening frame.

However, the first real scoring chance occurred during 5v5 action.

Nathan Ripley showcased great hands and immense skill to dance around two opponents to create a scoring chance for himself.
Ripley deserved better than watching his backhand effort rebound off the crossbar and away to safety.

From almost scoring to ending up in the box shortly afterwards, Ripley had to watch as Lithuania made hay on the games first power play with 5:14 on the clock

Jokubas Minelga scored from the left circle with Lucas Brine screened by an efficient Lithuanian power-play unit.

Much to their frustration, Great Britain could not capitalise on their opportunities with the extra man. GB even had a pair of shortened 5-on-3’s but Arkadijus Grigaravicius-Reyzin would not be beaten.

It appeared as if Lithuania would hold a vital 1-0 lead through twenty minutes but Rhodes Mitchell-King had other ideas. The defenseman carried the puck on a rush starting from his GB side of the red line. Cain Russell got a shot away and standing on the doorstep to put home the rebound was Bayley Harewood.

Second Period

Another six, yes six, penalties were called in the middle frame but just one goal scored through the period.

There was a deal of controversy about the lone strike by Lithuania.
Nikita Voloch scored during a scramble in the blue paint and a video review was required.
It was unclear on the replay as to whether the puck was pushed in, or if Brine’s pad was shoved over the line goalie pad over the line.

The type of goal you feel hard done by on either side of the ledger, and Great Britain trailed 2-1 after forty minutes.

Third Period

Adversity is often the making of a team, especially in a short tournament.
Any aspirations Great Britain had of winning a medal, let alone promotion, hung in the balance through the final twenty minutes of regulation.
Could this inexperienced roster respond to the urging of the coaches to stick with the process?

Yes. But not without a great deal of drama!

Great Britain’s power play finally found its feet to tie the game three minutes into the third period.
Zaine McKenzie fishing off after Finley Howells had his initial effort saved.

GB killed a penalty following the tying goal and the game was still tied at 2-2 heading into the final ten minutes.

Arguably two of the most gifted players on the roster combined for the go-ahead goal.

Alex Graham cleanly won an offensive face-off draw and teed up Harewood to score with a delightful backhand, top-shelf finish.

Two minutes later and Great Britain scored a crucial insurance marker.
Sam Watkins the architect this time, setting up his Telford team-mate Finley Howells to score with a great backhand finish that tested the solidity of the goaltender’s water bottle.

There was still 3:51 remaining on the clock and Lithuania were not going down without a fight.

Great Britain took a penalty seconds after Lithuania had pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker.
There were 66 seconds left when Rapolas Marcinkevicius tucked home a rebound during 6-on-4 action to set up a grandstand finish.

Sensing a chance to take at least a point, Lithuania pulled Grigaravicius-Reyzin again.

Game one hat-trick hero Logan Neilson made sure of the regulation win by picking off a pass in the neutral zone and showed composure to ease the puck into the vacant cage.

They never ask how. They only ask how many.

Great Britain has two wins from two games and continues to march on.

Post Games Notes

Great Britain out-shot Lithuania 46-32.

Great Britain was 1/8 on the power play. The penalty kill struggled, giving up two goals on the seven times GB were short-handed.

Lucas Brine turned aside 29 shots.

Zaine McKenzie was named Player Of The Game for Great Britain.

Bayley Harewood 2-0-2
Finley Howells 1-1-2
Zaine McKenzie 1-0-1
Logan Neilson 1-0-1
Cain Russell 0-1-1
Rhodes Mitchell-King 0-1-1
Alex Graham 0-1-1
Sam Watkins 0-1-1

Quotes courtesy of IHUK:

Head coach, Martin Grubb: “We came out and wanted to play on the front foot, but made too many mistakes early and needed to play faster and keep things simple.

“We scored a goal at a good time at the end of the first period and should’ve kicked-on from there, but played way too loose and paid the price in the second period.

“At the second intermission we asked the players to trust the process, the team and themselves and find a way to execute and get the job done. They deserve huge credit for responding.

“In tournament hockey it won’t always be perfect or pretty, but good teams will find a way to win and that’s exactly what this team did today.”

There are no games in the tournament tomorrow (Wednesday), but GB returns to action on Thursday when they face Korea U20s (face-off 14:30 UK time).

1) Bayley Harewood from Cain Russell and Rhodes Mitchell-King ES
2) Zaine McKenzie from Finley Howells PP
3) Bayley Harewood from Alex Graham ES
4) Finley Howells from Sam Watkins ES
5) Logan Neilson EN

Game Highlights

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