2022 IIHF Men’s World Championship – Game One
Great Britain may have tasted defeat in their opening game, but it was an excellent performance.
Ben Bowns once again stood on his head whilst the two newcomers to the team both settled into World Championship play as if it were old hat to them.
First Period
Twenty minutes to savour.
After settling into the game from the opening face-off, Great Britain created scoring chances of note in the first four minutes.
A blocked shot resulted in a breakaway for debutant Josh Waller.
The Cardiff winger would not be caught by trailing Czechia players but sent his low shot just wide of Lukas Dostal’s right post.
GB’s second line was a threat throughout the game. Robert Dowd and Ben Davies both went close to scoring on a shift in which Brendan Perlini was instrumental.
It took Czechia until the ninth minute to threaten the GB net.
A fantastic tic-tac-toe play resulted in a backdoor chance for NHL forward Tomas Hertl.
For the player who scored thirty goals last season, it should have been a tap-in, but Ben Bowns pulled off a tremendous left pad save to keep the game scoreless.
There would be further chances for GB to open the scoring.
Ben Lake was denied by Dostal on a snapshot from the high slot and was again frustrated by the goaltender on a second attempt on the same shift.
We almost had a fairytale moment.
Cade Neilson, the baby of this Great Britain team, was robbed in tight following a broken play in the Czechia zone.
Great Britain had kept the seventh seeds off the board, restricting them to just seven shots on goal.
All while coming oh so close to taking a shock lead.
Second Period
A slow start to the middle frame immediately put Great Britain on the back foot.
Less than a minute in, Ben O’Connor’s ill-advised pass was picked off and Bowns essentially faced a 2-on-0.
The netminder pulled off yet another top draw save to the surprise of nobody amongst the travelling band of passionate GB fans in the building.
Czechia took that momentum into a power play in which they did everything but score. Ben Bowns was yet again immense between the pipes. Even after being elbowed in the head/neck area in what appeared a reckless play, Bowns bounced back.
Bowns’ was being overworked and another turnover resulted in a breakaway for Czechia.
The goaltender robbed not only Jiri Cernock but Jiri Smejkal on the follow-up opportunity.
The deadlock would arrive at the seven-minute mark.
The zone entry was borderline offside but play continued to allow the higher seeds to strike first.
A wonderful saucer pass by David Krejci was collected and deposited five-hole by Matej Blumel.
Less than ninety seconds later Great Britain came within millimetres of tying the game.
Cade Neilson struck the crossbar with a shot on the turn from the left circle.
Dowd would also go close as GB responded with a series of fantastic shifts after falling behind.
Great Britain survived another penalty kill and Bowns even denied a penalty shot, albeit with the help of his right post.
A redirect from the skate of Jakub Flek off a point shot from Jan Skotka put Czechia up 2-0 and there was a level of relief on the faces of the seventh seeds.
To Great Britain’s credit, they would not go away.
Waller escaped down the left win on a partial break but his shot was fired into the chest of Dostal who would not allow a rebound.
Evan Mosey was an interesting addition to the top forward line and he found himself on the top power-play unit to boot.
The enigmatic and well-loved 33 year old thought he had scored on the doorstep during a man advantage but Dostal pulled off his best stop of the game to deny him.
Third Period
A goal 71 seconds into the final frame ended GB’s hopes of taking anything from this game.
A blast from David Jiricek gave Bowns no chance, and Czechia held a commanding 3-0 lead.
Great Britain continued to create chances, however.
Lake and Mosey crashing the net were both unlucky not to score as GB suffered from a case of bad puck luck.
Davey Phillips will wonder ‘what if’ after wiring a shot from the high slot wide of the target as it appeared GB might be shut out.
Czechia would add on two goals to give them a 5-0 lead with eleven minutes remaining in regulation.
Both were breakdowns by GB who appeared to get a little tired.
Cernoch and Blumel both finished with aplomb as Czechia made absolutely sure of the three points.
All the talk through the warm-up games was about a lack of offense.
After creating a plethora of chances in this game, Great Britain found the net as the clock ticked past fifty minutes.
Scott Conway got his head up and sent Lake on a breakaway. Despite being chased down hard, the Belfast Giants forward showed strength and great composure before slotting a backhand shot past Dostal.
A moment to savour.
Great Britain Player of the Game: Ben Bowns
Post Game Notes
Ben Bowns posted 29 saves in the defeat. He was sharp as ever and kept GB in the game during the middle frame.
Welcome to the world stage, Cade Neilson. The twenty-year-old looked right at home despite playing his first competitive game professionally. His skating and ease with the puck were a breath of fresh air and reminded me a little of Liam Kirk. There is no fear for this young man and given his head on the second line, he responded with an epic performance.
Next up, is Josh Waller. His first senior appearance in competitive action was also fantastic. Appointed a third-line role on the left wing, Waller was responsible through all three zones and showed he could use his speed to escape the attention of his opponents. A highly encouraging performance.
Evan Mosey, Ben Lake and Scott Conway worked as an unlikely combination but one I hoped Pete Russell would opt for. Faced with the toughest match-ups, the trio were still able to create offensively. That’s a promising sign moving forward.
Ben Davies won his 40th cap and becomes only the 35th player out of 423 of all time to reach the 40 cap milestone after making his GB debut in 2013.
Ben O’Connor won his 70th cap. He is only the 12th player of all time to reach the 70 cap milestone and just the fourth defenseman.
Cade Neilson and Josh Waller are the 424th and 425th players to represent GB at a World Championship or Olympic Qualifying tournament.
Cap statistics are courtesy of Andy Buxton
Line Up
Lake – Conway – Mosey
Perlini – Neilson – Dowd
Waller – Davies – J.Phillips
Lachowicz – Myers – Duggan
Hook
Tetlow – Richardson
O’Connor – D.Phillips
Ehrhardt – Clements
Batch
Bowns
Whistle
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