Man of the match Ben Bowns stood tall for Great Britain in their opening World Championship ice hockey match in Hungary.
Cardiff Devils goalie Bowns made 34 saves in GB’s 3-1 win against a Slovenian team who played at the Winter Olympics in Korea earlier this year and were in the World Championship top tier a year ago.
Slovenia threw themselves forward in the final period with Bowns saving all 18 shots fired at him, while skaters threw themselves in front of pucks to make brave blocks.
“We knew we could do it if we stuck to the game plan and worked for each other,” said Bowns. “The guys in front of me did a great job.
“It was an amazing performance. I lost count of the number of shots blocked by the guys.
“We showed fantastic spirit and character and it was a performance to be proud of.
“We put everything on the line and produced one of the most special performances I can remember.
“Slovenia are a great hockey nation but we came out fired up and took it to them from the first face-off.
“We grew in confidence as the game went on and I think that showed on the ice.
“Special teams on power plays and penalty kills were absolutely huge.
“We have a rest day on Monday and then we have to go out hard against Kazakhstan and see if we can pull another result out of the bag.”
Slovenia failed to score on their powerplay chances, while GB scored one of their opportunities with the extra man.
Slovenia, ranked 15th in the world, went down to a GB team who produced one of their most memorable performances in the last decade.
Brett Perlini scored his first Great Britain goal on his World Championship debut, while Ben O’Connor and Robert Dowd were the other scorers.
Captain Jonathan Phillips and his team made a strong start in the first period and their early pressure resulted in a powerplay goal for O’Connor at six minutes 50 seconds.
Perlini had hit the base of the right-hand post before Cardiff-born fired in from the blueline for his 14th GB goal.
Slovenia levelled at 12-22 with a neat finish from Blaz Gregorc in the slot to level the game at 1-1 at the first break.
Matthew Myers shot just wide of the right-hand post in the second period and then Robert Dowd gave GB a second period lead when he batted the puck out of the air from close range just as a powerplay had come to an end (35-59).
Britain stretched their lead to 3-1 with a neatly-worked goal, O’Connor and Mike Hammond set up Perlini on the doorstep at 44.50.
Slovenia stepped it up in the closing stages when Anze Kuralt hit the inside of a post and Bowns pulled off a good save from Ticar, but GB stayed firm for an historic win.
Head coach Peter Russell said: “That was special indeed. To beat a side who played in the Olympics this year is a fantastic achievement.
“The boys gave it everything and put it all on the line. I am proud of them.
“We were outstanding all across the ice – they were real heroes out there.
“This a great start but we must not get ahead of ourselves and we still have four massive games to come.”
World Championship matches for Britain in Budapest:
Sunday 22 Great Britain 3 Slovenia 1
Tuesday 24 Kazakhstan v Great Britain
Wednesday 25 Great Britain v Poland
Friday 27 Italy v Great Britain
Saturday 28 Hungary v Great Britain
GB’s 23-man squad:
Netminders: Ben Bowns (Cardiff Devils), Jackson Whistle (Belfast Giants), Thomas Murdy (Cardiff Devils, reserve).
Defence: Dallas Ehrhardt (Manchester Storm), Steve Lee (Nottingham Panthers), Ben O’Connor (Sheffield Steelers), David Phillips (Sheffield Steelers), Mark Richardson (Cardiff Devils), Zach Sullivan (Braehead Clan), Paul Swindlehurst (Manchester Storm).
Forwards: Ollie Betteridge (Nottingham Panthers), Brendan Brooks (Braehead Clan), Ben Davies (Guildford Flames), Robert Dowd (Sheffield Steelers), Robert Farmer (Nottingham Panthers), Luke Ferrara (Coventry Blaze), Mike Hammond (Manchester Storm), Liam Kirk (Sheffield Steelers), Robert Lachowicz (Nottingham Panthers), Matthew Myers (Cardiff Devils), Jonathan Phillips (Sheffield Steelers), Brett Perlini (Nottingham Panthers), Colin Shields (Belfast Giants).