Great Britain produced an phenomenal performance as they beat Lithuania 8-0 in their third game at the World Championship (Division 1B) in Zagreb.
It was an afternoon of outstanding displays from front to back, with GB limiting Lithuania to only 10 shots and Ben Bowns securing a shutout.
There were special moments for Ross Venus and Robert Lachowicz who scored their first World Championship goals.
GB were without Robert Dowd who spent last night in hospital after complaining of abdominal pains, but he returned to watch the game from the stands.
Britain took the lead short-handed as Jonathan Phillips, who along with Matthew Myers was presented with his 75th cap before the game, stole the puck off netminder Artur Pavliukov and flipped it into an unguarded net (8:34).
Russell Cowley’s feed from behind the net enabled Ashley Tait to score his 25th international goal with a one-time shot from right side at 17:29.
Cowley then set up Venus in the left circle for a fantastic finish 13 seconds into the second period (20:13).
Lachowicz went top shelf on a pass from Jonathan Phillips for his third international goal at 24:52 and Ben O’Connor’s powerplay blast from the top of the right circle made it 5-0 at 30:42.
That brought about a change in the Lithuania net with teenager Donatas Zukovas replacing Pavliukov.
But Zukovas picked the puck out of the net only 23 seconds later as Jonathan Boxill pounced on a rebound (31:05).
Cowley’s finish on the doorstep at 36:15 was quickly followed by Colin Shields scoring on the powerplay for his 36th international goal (39:00).
There was no further scoring in the third period as GB moved up to second in the Division 1B table on eight points, a point behind Ukraine who have nine points from three matches.
Head coach, Pete Russell, said: “That was a brilliant performance and one everyone should be very proud of.
“I would say it was the best performance since I became head coach.
“We took it to them from the off and we were relentless.
“There were so many good performances across the ice and everyone gave it everything they had.
“This is a massive result for us and the guys should enjoy it, they deserve it.”
There are no games at the tournament tomorrow and GB return to action on Friday when they face Romania at 1pm (12noon UK time).