Great Britain U20’s hopes of success in their World Championship (Division 1B) tournament were dealt a severe blow after hosts Hungary powered their way to a 5-1 victory on Monday.
Martin Grubb’s team endured a nightmare spell in the first period, conceding three goals in 61 seconds around the 13 minute mark to fall 3-0 down.
Lee Bonner was called for a charging penalty and from the resulting powerplay Hungary’s Martin Sagi netted with a one-timer from the slot.
Less than 30 seconds later, Patrik Kiss skated behind the GB net and threw a pass betwen the hashmarks for David Molnar to fire past Renny Marr.
GB were handed a chance to respond when they had their first powerplay, but Sagi won possession in neutral ice and skated in to finish high over Marr’s shoulder for a short-handed goal and Hungary’s third.
Grubb immediately called a timeout and the team regrouped, creating a couple of good scoring chances in the remaining time but the period ended 3-0 to the hosts.
Early in period two another GB penalty gave Hungary the man advantage and Patrik Kiss made it 4-0 with a shot from the right circle.
Shortly after another GB powerplay was killed, the Hungary net was finally breached midway through the second session.
Tyler Plews and Jordan Buesa combined to put Connor Glossop (above) through on goal and he finished neatly in the top corner.
GB had their best spell of the game following the goal, but were unable to find a second to spur on an unlikely comeback.
The final period was an even affair – GB again matching their opponents for long spells without generating any gilt-edged scoring chances.
What looked like being a scoreless period was finally broken in the last minute – Zsombor Kiss firing into the roof of the net on an odd man rush with just 17 seconds remaining to round out the scoring at 5-1.
“It was a frustrating night – when we played to our systems and stuck to the gameplan we were able to match Hungary as we showed in the second and third periods,” said Grubb.
“When we went away from the plan or took bad penalties we were punished. We’d watched them yesterday and we knew what they were capable of – we shouldn’t have given them the chances.
“We need to use the rest day now to rest and recover in part, but certainly to go over our approach to the last three games. We’ve a long training session in the afternoon and there’s plenty to cover.”
(Image permission: Duncan Speirs)
