Great Britain opened their 2023 IIHF World Championship, Div 1A, campaign with a 4-0 victory over Korea on Saturday evening.
Ben Bowns posted a shutout as a crowd of over 4,000 saw GB set the tone by taking the lead within the first two minutes and dominate the game for much of the night.
Johnny Curran, Nathanael Halbert and Sam Ruopp made their debuts with Curran becoming the 426th player to represent GB, Nathanael Halbert 427 and Johnny Curran 428.
Lake and Dowd give GB first-period lead
GB made the perfect start as Josh Waller’s backhand pass set-up Ben Lake to score from the top of the crease (1:44).
Super skill from Waller saw Robert Dowd to break clear and fire past Matt Dalton for GB’s second (15:49).
Neilson extends GB advantage to three
Liam Kirk cut inside from the left and fed Cade Neilson who went five-hole on the doorstep to score in the rink he skated on as a kid (20:13).
Neilson came close to a second but was denied by Dalton, Brett Perlini saw his shot from the slot saved and Jones was stopped by Dalton’s pad.
Kirk seals victory as Bowns secures shutout
Kirk cut inside from the right and fired over the shoulder of Dalton for a four-on-four goal (41:35).
Bowns continually shut the door at the other end as GB roared to an opening-day win.
GB are straight back into action tomorrow and face Poland (4pm face-off).
Elsewhere in the tournament on day one, Poland beat Lithuania 7-0 while Italy were 6-2 winners over Romania.
World Championship Division I Group A – Great Britain results
Saturday 29th April: Korea v Great Britain – Goals: Lake, Dowd, Neilson
Sunday 30th April: Great Britain v Poland
Tuesday 2nd May: Great Britain v Lithuania
Wednesday 3rd May: Great Britain v Romania – 19:30
Friday 5th May: Italy v Great Britain – 19:30