Great Britain began their Olympic Qualifying campaign with an 10-1 victory over China at the Vindico Arena in Cardiff.
Four players – Cam Critchlow, Sean Norris, Cole Shudra and Brandon Whistle – made their GB debuts. Ben Bowns got the start in goal with Jackson Whistle as back-up.
Kirk and Richardson give GB first-period lead
GB went ahead when Robert Dowd and Cade Neilson set-up Liam Kirk, who controlled the puck before firing from the slot (3:32).
Mark Richardson scored his eighth goal for this country, jumping onto a neat pass from Ben Lake (16:45).
GB score five in second period
Nathanael Halbert fed Kirk to score his second of the night (25:53), before Robert Lachowicz sent Norris down the right-hand side and his pass was met by Critchlow to score on his full international debut (27:02).
Critchlow quickly scored his second after being sent clear on a breakaway by Lachowicz (30:07) and Lake’s perfect cross-ice pass set-up Johnny Curran for a one-timer (32:53).
Neilson scored on the powerplay for GB’s seventh of the night when he redirected Kirk’s pass (38:39).
Dowd scores in first game as GB captain
Robert Dowd – in his first game as the new GB captain – finished-off a well-worked move involving Neilson and Richardson (43:34), before Zuo Tianyou got China on the board as he converted a breakaway only 14 seconds later (43:47).
Ben Davies jumped onto a rebound after Kirk’s shot was saved (56:12) and Halbert scored a fine goal following a neat move in the offensive zone to complete the scoring (58:53).
Serbia next for GB
There’s no games in the tournament tomorrow but GB return to action on Saturday against Serbia (7pm).
In today’s other game, Serbia were beaten 4-0 by Romania.
Schedule and results
Thursday 8th February
Romania 4-0 Serbia
Great Britain 10-1 China – Goals: Kirk 2, Critchlow 2, Richardson, Curran, Neilson, Dowd, Davies, Halbert
Saturday 10th February
Romania v China – 3pm
Serbia v Great Britain – 7pm
Sunday 11th February
China v Serbia – 3pm
Great Britain v Romania – 7pm