At the junior international level, the first game of the tournament usually takes on more importance than the seniors.
In recent history, failings in the first two games of a tournament have put paid to Great Britain’s chances of staking a claim for a gold medal and promotion.
With that in mind, Great Britain’s task of taking on hosts Lithuania in game one of Division II, Group A World Championships would have focussed the group.
Lithuania v Great Britain
First Period
A good start?
Far from the case as GB found themselves trailing by two goals inside nine minutes.
Lithuania’s power play showed it was deadly by netting at the first time of asking through Timur Razin Sedleckij.
With Great Britain on their heels, they allowed a very poor goal against at even strength as Marijus Dumcius opened his account.
A much-needed quick response arrived at the midway mark of the period. Carter Hamill corralled a rebound from Barely Harewood’s shot before sending a deft backhand effort into the top right-hand corner.
Second Period
A five-minute major penalty assessed for high sticking was the perfect opportunity for GB to tie the game.
After initial frustration, the tying goal arrived on a swift passing play that resulted in a tap-in for Harewood.
Despite edging the balance of play at 5v5, it appeared as if Great Britain would trail through forty minutes.
Vakaris Cizas struck on the power play, to give the hosts a 3-2 lead with 1:55 remaining.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man.
Jack Hopkins took matters into his own hands by scoring a highlight reel solo goal to tie proceedings at 3-3 with just forty seconds left.
Third Period
The two teams had discovered a real dislike for one another and at times an ill-tempered affair threatened to boil over. Matters were not helped by a fair dollop of embellishment and some disputable calls or lack thereof from the officials.
The final frame turned into a special team battle with four penalties called inside the opening nine minutes.
Great Britain made use of a two-man advantage with a handful of seconds remaining.
Hopkins beat Jukna Andrekus with a gorgeous top-shelf finish to give GB their first lead of the game.
Great Britain was made to work hard for victory, killing off a further two penalties, but restricting the hosts to twenty shots overall, made life as easy as possible for Ben Norton.
Final Result: Great Brain 4-3 Lithuania
GB Best Player of the Game: Jack Hopkins
Great Britain Statistics:
Jack Hopkins 2G
Bayley Harewood 1G/2A
Carter Hamill 1G
Mackenzie Stewart 1A
Rhodes Mitchell-King 1A
Jonathan McBean 1A
Ben Norton 17 saves
Division II, Group A Results
Netherlands 3-2 Croatia OT
Spain 6-2 Romania
Upcoming schedule
Great Britain v Croatia
Great Britain v Romania
Great Britain v Netherlands
Great Britain v Spain
UK Hockey Blog 