Great effort in 1st game against host nation.
Great Britain vs. Slovenia 2-3 (1-2, 1-0, 0-1)
Slovenia edged Great Britain 3-2 in a hard-fought opening game for the hosts. Tomaz Razingar scored the game winner with four minutes left in regulation time.
The Slovenes had a tough opponent in Great Britain in a sold-out Arena Stozice before 9,861 fans. A game in which the excitement in the stands was well-reflected on the ice. The teams battled for every centimetre and fans enjoyed watching a couple of great open-ice body checks.
“It was a tough first game to open the tournament. We expected it to become hard against Great Britain in the first game, but it’s also fun to play a game like that and the fans enjoyed it,” said defenceman Mitja Robar.
“In first games sometimes the legs are not right, the hands a little bit stiffer than usual and the crowd maybe got us to the point that we tried too much. But most important is that we won and nobody is injured so we can prepare and regroup for tomorrow.”
Usually not among the top contenders for promotion to the elite group, the British surprised last year by winning Division I silver, and the team was eager to confirm the great performance from last year.
“It was a tough battle out there. We just tried to grind out, skate with them out tonight. It did work well for 55 minutes of the game and they scored a nice goal to win it in the end,” said Craig Peacock, who had a goal and an assist, as did his linemate Colin Shields.
“They’re a little bit more of a skilled team than we are. We worked hard, we tried to grind out. We play a different style of hockey, maybe a North American style of hockey.”
It was Slovenia that got the better start and outshot Team GB 18-4 in the first period.
The host nation took the lead at 3:35 when Robert Sabolic skated beside the net and Ziga Jeglic converted his drop pass for the 1-0 goal.
However, Shields silenced the crowd three minutes later when he shot the puck into the net after nice deking and passing from Robert Dowd.
The Slovenes got their well-deserved lead back before the first intermission. At 12:35 David Rodman missed on a wraparound, but after several shots by different players, including one that hit the post, it was Rodman himself who brought the puck over the line.
Great Britain started the second period with the equalizer. Peacock escaped for a breakaway, double-passed with Shields and scored the Brits’ second goal at 1:15. It remained the only goal of the period that was more balanced with 11-9 shots in Slovenia’s favour.
“We played against a really good team. They showed what they want with full heart,” said Slovenian coach Matjaz Kopitar. “I expected it to be a tough game, but I didn’t hope that it would be like this. We had a terrible second period, but we can be happy with the three points and we must keep the good things.”
The third period started with a curiosity. Down scored a goal after only eight seconds of play, but it didn’t count because Matthew Myers stood in the middle of the crease.
The game remained tied at two for most of the period until the Slovenian efforts were rewarded with 3:59 left in regulation time. Captain Tomaz Razingar defeated goalie Stephen Murphy with a shot from the right side after receiving a pass from Andrej Tavzelj.
In the hectic dying minutes Slovenian goalie Robert Kristan kept his net clean and the hosts earned their first three points.
“It was a great game. Both teams played very hard. We were a little bit unlucky in the start of the third period, but that’s hockey,” said Doug Christiansen. “At this level you cannot do too many mistakes.”
Christiansen was coaching the team because head coach Tony Hand’s club team Manchester Phoenix, where he is a player-coach, was busy in the playoffs. Hand is expected to arrive in Ljubljana tomorrow.
If one goes down injured the team is in trouble at that level. 
