Promotion dreams dashed during a second-period collapse
“We knew that we needed a result to give ourselves a chance at gold and ultimately a massively disappointing second period has ended that dream. We made too many mistakes that get punished at international level.” – Head coach, Martin Grubb.
First Period
Great Britain got off to the perfect start in the opening frame.
A little over two minutes in, Jack Hopkins broke into the offensive zone and found Logan Neilson.
Neilson wasted little time in producing a fine backhand finisht that beat David Orgs Mag all ends up.
GB was even creating chances on the penalty kill.
Liam Steele danced his way through the Romania team and might have scored had an infraction not been committed. The defenseman drew a penalty on the drive to negate Romania’s power play.
If there was a criticism of GB in the first period, they weren’t clinical enough in front of goal.
Bayley Harewood had three chances on a single shift.
Alex Graham and Liam Steele also went close but there would be no second goal.
Making his international debut, Daniel Crowe made a nice double save with seven minutes remaining before another fine stop a little later.
Second Period
Even writing this recap a day after the event, it’s difficult to put a finger on what exactly transpired in the middle frame.
Complacency? Mental fatigue? Physical fatigue? A combination?
Only the players will truly know.
I am sure the second-period performance will eat away at them for a while.
GB gifted Romania three goals with just 3:15 played.
I say gifted because Great Brain imploded as a unit, not just defensively. Poor Daniel Crowe was left hung out to dry and would be pulled from the action after the third goal despite not being at fault for the epic collapse.
It didn’t get any easier for Lucas Brine now back between the pipes, as he had to make three top-notch saves to keep the game within reach.
However, a fourth goal from the hosts with 1:55 remaining appeared to seal the deal with Great Britain now faced with a huge mountain to climb to think about just taking a point.
And then the brief glimmer of hope appeared.
Jack Goodchild showed the kind of hustle and work rate sadly lacking in the middle frame, winning back possession.
Oliver Endicott took control and scored with three seconds remaining.
Endicott attempted to get his teammates going in the ensuing celebration as Great Britain trailed by two heading into the intermission.
Third Period
There were opportunities. So, many, opportunities, to mount a tremendous comeback.
Great Britain had two power plays inside the opening five minutes but failed to make either count.
Jack Hopkins attempted to carry the team on his back but his effort was stopped after a fine individual rush through all three zones.
Liam Steele tested Mags but the goaltender came up with a fine glove save.
The penalties continued to rack up with Romania resorting to cheap shots after every whistle.
The host’s attempts to get GB off their game were working as the scrums and nastiness ratcheted up after each stoppage.
A moment of brilliance with six minutes remaining deserved more than to be a footnote in this game.
Finley Howells with a superb individual effort that I can do little justice with words.
GB now trailed 4-3 but the goal failed to spark them into action. Instead, Romania had the next best chance.
The officials, who again had a poor outing, opted to give the host nation a penalty shot after what appeared to be an excellent last-ditch poke-check.
Luca Brine came up with the shoulder save required and with three minutes left there was still time for a 2018 Hungary-Esque comeback.
The best chance fell to Neilson shortly after the huge save.
One a back door play, the forward probably didn’t get as much on his shot as we would have liked and Mags moved swiftly to his left to make the stop.
The last-minute was frantic but ultimately unsuccessful.
Howells wired a shot high and Mags ended up making nine saves in the final frame to give Romania the win and a chance of avoiding relegation.
Post Games Notes
Great Britain was out-shot 21-10 in the final frame and 44-28 overall.
Finley Howells was named Player Of The Game for Great Britain.
If the IIHF tiebreaker remains the ‘head-to-head’ result then Great Britain is assured a Bronze medal. If they can better Korea’s result on Sunday then they will claim a Silver medal.
Promotion and the gold medal for Italy were confirmed, following Romania’s win in this game.
Jack Hopkins 0-2-2
Jack Goodchild 0-1-1
Finley Howells 1-0-1
Logan Neilson 1-0-1
Oliver Endicott 1-0-1
Rhodes Mitchell-King 0-1-1
All quotes courtesy of IHUK:
Head Coach Martin Grubb – “Romania were a desperate team as they knew a loss meant relegation. We spoke about how we had to outwork them and make sure we played fast, simple and direct.
“Unfortunately, that middle period we put ourselves in a hole we couldn’t get out of. We have to regroup and stick together as a group.
“We need to finish as strong as we can to make sure that this tournament has a positive ending for us and the support back home.”
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