Day two of the tournament featured two thrilling close games with late drama. The other had potential for a shock upset but ended in a comprehensive rout.

The result was that the top seeds took a firm grip at the top of the standings heading into the first rest day.

Great Britain v Lithuania

FIRST PERIOD

In rapid start to the game by Lithuania, they looked to turn Great Britain and impose their forecheck game.
It paid dividends as the hosts played into their hands with failed breakouts and passes missing their destination, leading to multiple odd-man rushes and far too much time being spent in the GB zone.

The home nation rarely threatened the Lithuanian net but did create three chances of note. One at the four-minute mark from the slot and the second, as the midway point of the period approached. Jack Hopkins jumped on an error down the right wing and duly drove hard to the net. He was slashed as his backhand shot went wide, drawing the first penalty of the game.

On the resulting power play GB’s structure was good and perhaps better than in game one where they scored twice. Mack Stewart rifled a shot off the post and that’s as close as they would come.

Some interesting calls or lack thereof began to infuriate the home team, who appeared less than thrilled when Stewart was sent to the box with 1:24 remaining.

The Lithuanian contingent in the crowd leapt to their feet when Benas Belicinka’s shot from the point, beat Ben Norton glove side, to give the visitors a 1-0 lead through twenty minutes.

It was a shame for Norton, who had otherwise performed admirably between the pipes, making several key saves to keep the game scoreless until that point.

SECOND PERIOD

It took just 51 seconds for Great Britain to respond in the middle frame. On a transition play involving Joshua Shaw and Mack Stewart, the puck bounced kindly in the slot for Jack Hopkins. The noted scorer does not pass up opportunities frequently and buried his shot to tie the game at 1-1.

The goal didn’t go to the legs of the hosts however and Lithuania remained in control of the game.
It took 58 seconds for them to restore their lead through Vitalij Fediukin.

The scoring continued apace as GB struck again to tie the game ninety seconds later. A beautiful stretch pass from Kell Beattie sent Hopkins away through on net. He finished with the demeanour of a player who knew he was going to score.

A 2-2 game and the crowd was fully immersed in a wild but entertaining contest.

Ben Norton continued to play his part to keep Great Britain in the game. In what looked like a certain third goal for Lithuania at the eight-minute mark, he produced a wonderful diving save to the amazement of everyone at Dumfries IceBowl.

The period finished with three power plays, the first of which saw GB with the man advantage.
Oliver Endicott jammed the puck in from close range to put the hosts into a somewhat underserved 3-2 lead.

Lithuania enjoyed plenty of possession on consecutive power plays but failed to beat Norton.

Milan Levcenko struck the base of the post but otherwise, Norton was outstanding between the pipes as GB held a narrow one-goal advantage with twenty minutes remaining in regulation.

THIRD PERIOD

There was some early drama as Lithuania was forced into a goaltending chance for an equipment issue. That lasted five minutes and the hosts took full advantage. Endicott escaped down the wing and from the left circle sent a rasping drive that found the far top corner of the net.

As soon as that goal was registered, Julius Andrekus came back in to replace Daniil Cepov.
Now holding a 4-2 lead, Great Britain needed to exercise some good game management to seal a crucial victory.

Instead, GB gave up a very weak goal within 68 seconds. Linas Dedinas split the defence with ease and scored with a delightful backhand but in truth, it was awful defensive coverage and entirely avoidable.

Great Britain probably should have restored their two-goal lead on a following power play.
Carter Hamill and Hopkins both failed to capitalise on Grade-A scoring chances.

With the clock winding down, a big moment of the game arrived with exactly two minutes remaining. A soft penalty was called, handing Lithuania essentially a 6-on-4 power play for the remainder of regulation.

The officials did not cover themselves in glory throughout this tetchy and feisty affair, although they were at times not helped by nefarious actions from some of the players.

The imposing figure of Ilja Michalevic redirected a point shot in front to tie the game at 4-4, ensuring overtime would be required.

OVERTIME

With 46 seconds remaining in the extra frame, it was another defensive breakdown that cost GB dearly.
Artur Seniut sliced through GB’s three skaters and beat Norton at his far post to cue wild celebrations.

For Great Britain, it was a case of what might have been with a two-goal lead.

Post Game Notes

The dropping of two points does not change too much for the hosts, who now have to win their next two games in regulation to stay in with a chance of earning promotion.

What will concern the coaches more is that Great Britain was simply not at the races for the first two periods as they failed to cope with the speed and physicality of their opponent. They also failed to match the intensity of Lithuania, who dominated possession, time in the O-Zone and created a plethora of quality scoring chances.

Without the efforts of Ben Norton, Great Britain may have left this game completely empty-handed. The goaltender stopped 47 shots to earn a point.

Jack Hopkins and Oliver Endicott both scored two goals and Mack Stewart registered a pair of assists.

GB Coach Dayle Keen

“I think in the first period we were overwhelmed. they came out very aggressive and that carried on into the second period”

“After making some adjustments I thought for the first fifteen minutes of the third period we were excellent. That soft penalty towards the end of the game really changed the momentum, however, we’ve got to take that on the chin.”

“I thought the boys gave maximum effort and we are really proud of them. Just told them in the room that we love them to bits and that their effort was fantastic.”
On Norton’s performance. “It only does wonders for Ben’s confidence. I thought he was excellent through the game and certainly in the first period when we could have done a little bit more to help him out.”

Jack Hopkins
“I’m not anywhere near where I could be [level of performance]. I’ve not been playing loads of minutes and I don’t think that’s helped, but I’m getting there. I think I can be a lot better still.”

On Lithuania. “They are pretty fast and we were a bit like a deer in the headlights sometimes. We got the goals, but in the last ten minutes we were upset with our own play.”

“He [Ben Norton] had a great game. I think he’s a little bit upset but we told him there’s no need to be.”

“We just need to keep our heads up, we got a point, so we are still in the race for gold. We just have to worry about the next few games.”

Regarding the upcoming potential gold-medal game against Korea. “I think we are definitely good enough to beat them.”

Korea 9-2 Spain

FIRST PERIOD

The shellacking that many fans might have expected did not materialise in the first period.
Spain made a solid start and goaltender Pablo Salvador who was lit up against China, provided some solid saves.

It took a power play for Korea to break the deadlock.
Spain’s penalty kill was completely undone by some slick passing and a cross-seam feed was finished backdoor by Minjoon Huh.

Spain went to work on the power play at the seven-minute mark but they failed to threaten the Korean net. However, eleven seconds after the man advantage had expired, a bang-bang play resulted in a shock, tying goal for the underdogs. Hugo Casaus slotted home the puck and set in motion wild celebrations.

Korea had two Grade-A opportunities to restore their lead but proved wasteful in front of goal.
Hyunseo Lee was denied on an odd-man rush, while Sihwan Kim failed to score in a yawning cage as Korea should have recorded the first short-handed tally of the tournament.

SECOND PERIOD

Spain arguably played their best hockey of the tournament thus far in the first five minutes of the middle frame. They almost took a shock lead through Joseph Tufet, who escaped unattended down the right side. His initial effort was denied and he was unlucky with a follow-up attempt to bank it off the goaltender.

Korea reasserted themselves with 5:31 on the clock with an incredibly soft goal.
A speculative long shot from the point by Seungwoo Hong beat Salvador between the pipes, who didn’t move a muscle.

The lead was doubled just two minutes later with another goal that could have been easily avoided.

Soo Namgung was allowed to skate into the zone with ease and with Spain collapsing down low, he sent the puck back to the high slot for Deokyong to fire home.

Korea made it 4-1 with their third goal in six minutes.

A bad line change by Spain resulted in Yuchan Kong having the room to career down the left wing and cut across the crease before delivering a five-hole finish.

Dusan Cantabrana replied for Spain with possibly the best goal of the game.
He dangled his way into the slot before delivering a gorgeous top-shelf finish.

Korea hit back within a minute with another soft goal. Jaehyun Lee was wide open in the slot and could not miss scoring Korea’s fifth of the game.

THIRD PERIOD

Spain visibly tired in the final frame and Korea duly ran roughshod over the lower seeds.

Korea scored a second power-play goal, almost a carbon copy of their first-period tally through Sihwan Kim.

The goals kept flooding in as Korea took full advantage of turnover and space afforded to them.

Seongsoon Choi, Doan Kim and Minjoon Huh all found the net as Korea hit nine and probably should have hit double figures but for some lackadaisical finishing and desperation goaltending in the final minutes.

An emphatic victory for the top seeds but one that did not look likely before the 26th minute.

Netherlands 4-2 China

FIRST PERIOD

The Netherlands showed no sign of a hangover from their defeat to GB in the first period of a more winnable game against China.
The higher seeds surged into the lead after just seven seconds!
It was an innocuous-looking play but a delightful finish from Timoer Roodenburg.

Despite the early goal, the opening twenty minutes were mostly bereft of high-quality scoring chances.

China’s best chance to tie the game at 5v5 fell to Yuze Jia, who drew a fine save from the Netherlands netminder.
Eric Chen has a couple of good looks on the game’s first power play but otherwise China never particularly threatened to score by a strong goaltender.

The Netherlands could and should have increased their advantage.
Ryan Kolgen led a 2on1 rush but opted to shoot when a pass was the better option and his attempt was smothered.
Lode Arts was the beneficiary of some sloppy defensive play and his shot from the slot brought a fine save.

The Netherlands struck the post on the power play through Tom Speel and then had the opportunity with a two-man advantage to increase their lead. There was little urgency from the higher seeds and China survived unscathed.

SECOND PERIOD

The Netherlands did manage to strike on the power play carried over from the middle frame. Lode Arts applied a deft backhand finish on an excellent rapid cross-seam feed by Timoer Roodenburg to take a 2-0 lead.

From that moment the Netherlands appeared to take their foot off the gas and became very lackadaisical in every facet.

An individual goal from Zhichen Li halved the deficit. It was a thrusting surge down the right wing and toward the net but all too easy for #13. His finish past an otherwise solid netminder was impeccable, however.

The tying goal felt like a matter of game with the ice having tilted and it arrived with a little under six minutes remaining.

A face-off win on the power play was the key as Lang Xu launched a blistering shot from the blue line into the roof of the net.
Both teams had chances off the rush in the final three minutes but neither could carry a lead into the final twenty minutes of regulation.

THIRD PERIOD

The final frame was not short on thrills, spills or entertainment for the crowd.

Tom Speel had a fantastic chance from the slot at the six-minute mark but somehow fired wide. His time would come.

The game’s turning point arrived sixty seconds later. The Netherlands were penalised twice in the pace of thirty seconds. The second infringement angered the higher seeds, with the goaltender adjudged to have deliberately knocked the net off its moorings. The net had already been dislodged several times beforehand with nothing done to remedy the situation. It was a huge call by the officials at that stage of the game.

The Netherlands rose to the challenge at hand, killing off both remaining penalties but remained hard done by.
A pair of crushing hits left separate players prone on the ice with no penalties awarded to the Chinese.

As time wound down it was clear that the next goal was going to be crucial and it was the Netherlands who struck with five minutes.

Jaidy van Mourik strode down the right wing following a neutral zone turnover and delivered a perfect cross-season feed to Speel.
On this occasion, there was no mistake as the forward smashed the puck into the twine.

China huffed and puffed but try as they might, could not find a tying marker. They struck the post and had another effort fly across the blue paint but the puck would not find its way past the Dutch goaltender.

Instead, it was left to Speel to seal the deal with an empty net tally to give the Netherlands a crucial regulation win.