VIDEO: Kolesnik rolls back the years with fantastic display

In what began as an open contest, Great Britain and Kazakhstan traded chances in a closely fought contest which would end up finishing with the Kazakhs two goals to the good. After killing an early penalty on Craig Peacock, with the only real chance coming on a Vitali Novopashin one timer, Great Britain were given three consecutive powerplay opportunities, yet failed to find the back of the net on any of their opportunities. David Phillips had a chance to score his second goal of the tournament from the right point, but Vitali Kolesnik made the save without too much difficultly. At the other end, Ilya Solarev forced a fine blocker save from Stephen Murphy from the left faceoff dot. Shots on goal were equal at 8:8 through the first, however a David Clarke shot from the point which looked destined to find the top corner was blocked by Alexei Troshinski, who looked worse for wear after taking the one timer in his ribs. With under two and a half minutes left on the clock, Kazakhstan opened the scoring as Konstantin Romanov found the net for the third time in two games so far in the World Championships. Good play at the Britain line by Alexei Spiridonov and Konstantin Pushkaryov opened up GB’s defence, and the latter slipped a pass to Romanov who deked out Murphy before scoring on the backhand. Nineteen seconds later and Kazakhstan were two goals to the good as a smart play by Maxim Belyayev to hold up the puck and take the hit gave time and space to Ilya Solarev, who fired a low shot from the right faceoff dot which beat Stephen Murphy five hole.

Great Britain overall had the better of the play in the second period, with Kazakhstan’s continued march to the penalty box seeing them struggling to gain momentum in Monday’s second game. An early chance for Britain came as they penned the Kazakhs in their own zone, and Myers had two whacks at the puck before Kolesnik managed to cover it. However, Kazakhstan did get chances despite being outshot 14:12 in the second frame. Murphy was forced to make a stop on a Roman Savchenko before a fantastic shot on Alexei Troshinski, after the veteran defenceman found a way to the slot unmarked and fired a one timer. The best chance for the period for Great Britain came on a delayed penalty with seven minutes to go in the period, as Colin Shields waited and found David Clarke alone in front of goal, but the Nottingham Panthers forward couldn’t lift his backhand effort high enough, and Kolesnik saw it all the way. In the final two minutes of the period, Great Britain got into penalty trouble with both Clarke and Matthew Myers in the box, and eventually when given the 5 on 3 chance, Kazakhstan made good, as smart puck possession helped set up Roman Savchenko, who after missing on a number of efforts, finally found the top corner with a fizzing wrist shot which Murphy couldn’t get a piece of, giving Kazakhstan a 3:0 lead with just eight seconds left in the second period.

Kazakhstan grabbed hold of the game by the scruff of the neck in the third period, as they started to dominate puck possession and make life difficult for Britain. It was yet more bad luck for Robert Lachowicz, as the British forward for the second game in a row, blocked a point shot only for the puck to go to an opposing player, as Vadim Krasnoslobodtsev shot the puck high short side into the back of the net. Five minutes into the period, Murphy made a fantastic save on Konstantin Romanov who was left unmarked in the slot. Mid way through the third period Kazakhstan were given a penalty shot as Luke Boothroyd hauled down Konstantin Savenkov on the breakaway, but the Kazakh forward hit the post with his penalty shot effort. Before the end of the game Kazakhstan would get their fifth, as Oleg Blokhin wasn’t picked up by the Britain defence, and he one timed a feed from Roman Starchenko to give Kazakhstan their second powerplay goal of the game. Vitali Kolesnik was imperious for his 36 save shutout, making save after save as Kazakhstan gave away nine minor penalties in this contest. The pick of the bunch being a diving pad stop to deny Ashley Tait who was all alone at the back post. The buzzer went and Kazakhstan join Italy at the top of Division 1A with six points, while Britain joins Japan with two losses.

Great Britain captain Jonathan Phillips was positive after the game despite the heavy defeat. ‘It was no way a 5:0 game, it was three powerplay goals or goals that came as the powerplay ended and got caught a bit tired, but we need to find a way to score some goals, and I think after that first period we should have been two or three up’.

It doesn’t get any easier for Great Britain as on Wednesday they face top seeds Italy. Phillips commented, ‘We have to keep going the same way. I think our work rate is fantastic, we’re getting pucks to the net, we’re driven the net and we are creating chances. Sooner or later the bounces are going to go our way and we’re going to start getting the results we want and deserve’.

Tweets by @eurohockey