In 2019 it was Robert Farmer; this year it was Ben Davies. The overtime hero for Great Britain as they beat France 4-3 in Košice to stay up in the top group of world ice hockey, after Ben Bowns saved 33 shots in the game – a new IIHF World Championship top level record.
Three goals down by 27:37, the GB fightback started at 34:59 when Ben O’Connor kept the puck alive in the offensive zone, and set up Rob Dowd for an excellent finish. 1:56 before the end of the period Mike Hammond added another goal after France turned the puck over in their own zone, and somehow GB trailed by just one after 40 minutes.
5:16 into period three Robert Farmer, the Budapest hero, cut in from the wing and found the net to tie the game. A late Robert Lachowicz penalty towards the end of the period was killed with some fantastic blocking to see Great Britain into over.
In the extra period Ben Bowns came up big on multiple chances for France, before Jonathan Phillips won a footrace to the puck, and set up Davies clear in the slot. Davies, who in the opening period missed a 1-on-0 chance by trying to pass, made no mistake this time as he found the roof of the net to give GB the over time win and keep them at the top level next season!
It was an emotional game for Colin Shields, who played his later ever professional game. “It’s just amazing, I’m so happy for all of the boys,” said the EIHL’s all-time leading points scorer. “In the timeout Pete just told us to keep going and believing in what we have. It’s a huge credit to all of the players that we have stayed in the top group, and to finish my career like this is quite unbelievable.”
Overtime hero Ben Davies said after the game: “I’m just so happy right now, and of course I wanted to score that at the end to make up for the one I missed in the first period! Ben Bowns was unbelievable for us making some fantastic saves, so I was happy I could finish it off there.”
Head Coach Pete Russell added: “This is massive moment for the team and a massive moment in British ice hockey. At 3-0 we did not panic. I looked at the guys in the timeout and I knew which team was winning this game. They knew they could still do it. What they have just achieved is the biggest thing in their career. They drew strength from what they did in Hungary a year ago. They had the belief that they could win this game and I am so proud of every single one of them.”
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