The results on day three of the tournament were as expected with less drama.

Whilst Spain looks set to find themselves relegated at this stage, all medals are still up for grabs heading into day four.

Great Britain 4-1 China

FIRST PERIOD

Great Britain came out strong in the opening four minutes, playing with the pace and intensity sorely missing from their first two periods against Lithuania.
Only one scoring chance of note was created by Jack Hopkins for Mack Stewart but it was undoubtedly the start the coaching staff was asking for.

Against the run of play, China almost snatched the lead on the game’s first power play.
Fanke Meng was all alone in the slot but unbelievably fired wide with half an empty net to score into.

Austin Osborn negated the penalty with some fine defensive play but the hosts could do nothing with their shortened power play.

The best moment of the period arrived with a little under six minutes remaining. Hopkins carried possession over the blue line before dropping the puck back to Carter Hamill who wasted little time in finding Stewart at the top of the circles. Stewart beat one man and while falling, found Hopkins to his right. The Chinese goaltender produced the best of his thirteen saves in the period to deny GB’s #15.

China ended the frame with another power play due to another undisciplined penalty from Great Britain but were unable to make it count.

SECOND PERIOD

The middle frame became a little messy in terms of structure with special teams and four-on-four action a feature.

Joshua Shaw rang a shot off the cross whilst Billy Thorpe produced a tremendous shot block to deny an odd-man rush by China.

Ben Norton continued his impressive play with a terrific save to turn aside the skilled Kailin Chen.

GB’s captain spurned the opportunity to open the scoring from the high slot following fine set-up play by the Osborn twins and Cameron Hamill.

In what was an action-packed start to the period it was the hosts who made the breakthrough with 4:31 on the clock. Lucas Price executed a turnover, teeing up Ben Brown for his first goal at the U20 level. It was fantastic work from Price who is a constant thorn to opponents when playing a high-energy brand of hockey.

After killing a rather soft penalty, Great Britain doubled their lead on the power play.
A shot from Mack Stewart was blocked in front but the rebound fell kindly to Leeds Knight forward Finley Bradon to smash home from close range.

THIRD PERIOD

The penalty theme continued at the beginning of the third period, albeit with some interesting calls by the officiating crew.

China was presented with a 5-on-3 for 1:55 and a chance to haul themselves back into the contest.
After having a goal waived off for the net being off its moorings, the lowest seeds finally breached the defence of Norton.
Zihao Liu found the roof of the net with a perfectly positioned shot to halve the deficit.

GB killed the remainder of the second penalty and set about restoring their two-goal advantage.
It took just four minutes to arrive as Brown, a Scottish native, netted his second of the game following a shift full of endeavour by Carter Hamill and Connor Lee.

The host’s penalty kill would be tested to the full as China had two further opportunities with the extra skater to find a way back into the game. Norton and the PK’ers stood tall to keep the Chinese at bay, allowing Great Britain to secure victory with a late fourth goal.

Hopkins was the architect, causing complete mayhem in the slot as China simply could not handle him. Carter Hamill was the beneficiary with a goal 77 seconds from the end of the game.

Post Game Notes

A two-goal game for Ben Brown, who certainly has a nose for the net.

“It was nice to get a couple [of goals], but it’s more important that the team won. A good regulation win [for GB], and we just carry on from here.”

On the message from the coaching staff heading into this game:
“Just play our game. Do the little things right and get the job done.”

Jack Hopkins was the standout performer and a man on a mission in this game. With and without the puck, he played at high speed and a great deal of intelligence. It was the Jack Hopkins I’ve come to expect in recent viewings.

Lithuania 6-1 Spain

FIRST PERIOD

These two teams were coming off contrasting results following the off-day. Lithuania had produced a comeback to defeat the hosts whilst Spain started well against Korea before imploding and eventually conceding nine goals.

The backup goaltenders were given a chance to shine for both nations and both were called upon in the opening encounters. Spain began brightly generating some good looks but being able to fully extend Daniil Cepov.

Roberto Mampel produced a smart save at the four-minute mark to turn aside Marijus Dumcius on a partial breakaway which must have given him a great deal of confidence.

Thirty seconds later Spain’s moment almost arrived.
Hugo Nicolau surged down the middle of the ice on a partial breakaway but lost the handle at the vital moment much to the disappointment of the vocal Spanish contingent in the stands.

Lithuania put Spain under huge pressure during the game’s first power play. Spain’s penalty killing was resilient if desperate during the eighty seconds they were hemmed in the D-zone, but the lower seeds held out.

The breakthrough eventually came as the game approached the thirteen-minute mark.
Unsurprisingly it was a transition play and though Mampel was able to turn aside Dumcius, Paulius GryBauskas was on hand to slot home the rebound.

Spain was unable to capitalise on two power plays of their own late in the frame and suffered the ignominious fate of allowing the tournament’s first short-handed goal.

A blocked shot created an odd-man rush and the impressive Linas Dedinas scored with ease, far side on Mampel, to give Lithuania a 2-0 lead through twenty minutes.

SECOND PERIOD

The middle frame may have had a different outcome if Spain had struck while shorthanded.
Hugo received the puck alone in the slot following fine work by a teammate but contrived to miss the target with the empty net at his mercy.

Wasteful with consecutive power plays, Lithuania broke the game wide open with three 5v5 goals in two minutes.

Spain was incensed at the first of those, claiming goaltending interference after Saraunas Baltrunas had scored past a prone Mampel.

It affected the lower seeds as they conceded again 45 seconds later. Marijus Dumcius slotted home to give his nation a 4-0 lead shortly before the midway point of the game.

Pablo Mata came within a whisker of getting Spain on the board but his shot clipped the edge of Cepov’s glove and drifted away to safety.

A fifth goal from Captain Artur Seniut rather punctured the spirit of the Spanish team who had battled so valiantly before allowing three quick strikes.

There would be some joy inside the final five minutes as Lithuanian thoughts of a shutout were dashed.

On Spain’s first real concerted O-zone pressure since the opening frame, a broken play in the slot allowed Bosco Collado to get his nation on the board.

THIRD PERIOD

With the game over as a contest, Lithuania slipped down a couple of gears but continued to hold Spain at arm’s length.

Their power play struggles continued with two efforts ending without registering before a sixth goal arrived at even strength.

Baltrunas netted his second of the game on an odd-man rush to round out the scoring.

It was rough justice on the Spanish netminder who had performed admirably and turned aside 63 shots to stop the game from being a complete rout.

Korea 7-1 Netherlands

FIRST PERIOD

Anyone expecting to see Korea run over the Netherlands was given a rude awakening in the opening twenty minutes.

The Netherlands performed with credit in the first four minutes but contrived to give up a soft breakaway.

Mooyoung Lee’s shot rang off the crossbar and hit the goaltender on the way back. The play was seemingly whistled down with the puck not visible for a second until it crossed the goal line. The goal stood and there was little dispute from the lower seeds.

The first power play of the game was a terrible effort by the Netherlands, who could barely string two passes together.

Korea showed their opponents how it’s done by doubling their lead with the man advantage.

Minjoon Huh found the twine with a rapid one-time slapshot from the left circle.

Far from being disheartened, the Netherlands almost responded immediately.

Ryan Kolgen fired a shot up and over the shoulder of the Korean netminder but somehow the puck didn’t cross the line, nor in the ensuing scramble.

A tying goal did arrive following some excellent work behind the net. Jaidy Van Mourik stuffed the puck home from close range to send the large contingent of fans in the stands into rapture.

The Netherlands should have tied the game up before the intermission buzzer.

Bryan Wendijk’s two backhand attempts from close range were both shuffled into the pads of the netminder.

Van Mourik had the opportunity to get a second on a breakaway but was denied glove-side.

SECOND PERIOD

Special teams were the difference in the opening period and Korea continued to dominate in that facet during the middle frame.

A turnover by the Netherlands resulted in an odd-man rush and KIM Beomseok Kim knocking the water bottle off its mooring to give the top seeds a 3-1 lead.

After several near misses on their first-man advantage, Korea scored on consecutive power plays.

The Netherlands had no answer to swift incisive passing, nor high-quality finishing by Yuchan Kong and Mooyoung Lee respectively.

The final goal of the period arrived just a few seconds after another Netherlands penalty had expired. Beomsek Kim netted from close range to seal a clinical period for Korea, killing the game as a contest with the scoreline at 6-1 through forty minutes.

THIRD PERIOD

The finale frame meandered to a finish with the result in little doubt.

The only goal came about from a defensive breakdown from a tired-looking Netherlands team.

Yuchan Konh’s cross seam pass found Seungwoo Hong in acres of space and he duly finished with aplomb.

A 7-1 victory for Korea, which flattered them slightly but did showcase their authority in the special teams department.