Great Britain lost the big debate at the World Championships in Hungary – and that proved a major turning point against Kazakhstan.
The teams were locked on 1-1 in their group clash when Anton Sagadeyev’s tip in front of goalie Ben Bowns sent the puck high into the net.
This clash was evenly balanced at the time, GB were frustrating Kazakhstan and the referees quickly signalled they would review the goal.
It took both officials seven minutes of watching replays and debating the issues to decide there wasn’t an easy answer. There was a high-ish stick on the play, but replays could not determine whether it was too high.
Eventually, it seems, the referees decided they could not make an off-ice decision because the replays were not decisive and stick with the goal they had awarded when the puck flew in.
The delay had been long enough to suggest the goal might be ruled out and when it was a blow for GB when it was awarded.
It came when Artemi Lakiza sent off a shot from the blueline through traffic and, with screening work from Ivan Kuchin in front of Bowns, that was deflected high by Anton Sagadeyev.
That was a body blow for Britain and two minutes later Kazakhstan scored a third and eventually ran out 6-1 winners.
The victory puts Kazakhstan top of the standings as the lone team with a maximum six points from two games. Italy, Poland, Great Britain and Hungary all have three points apiece with a 1-1 record, while top-seeds Slovenia are bottom with zero points.
GB assistant coach Adam Keefe said: “Kazakhstan are a great side. They showed their class out there.
“But we can take positives from the game. We had a great start to the game and more than matched them in the first period.
“Five-on-five we really competed, but they were lethal on the powerplay. Teams at this level will hurt you with the man advantage.
“We have a great group of guys and they won’t let this get them down. We have already shown we can compete at this level and we are looking forward to taking on Poland on Wednesday.”
Head coach Peter Russell will work with Keefe and fellow assistant Corey Neilson to prepare GB for Wednesday’s clash with Poland.
“It wasn’t a 6-1 game, but that’s the scoreline and maybe we made some mistakes,” said Russell. “We also seem to struggle at junior level against Kazakhstan because they are so skilled and move fast.
“It was a skating game with a lot of skill. Against Poland it will be more of a battle.”
Kazakhstan outshot Great Britain 42-25 overall, but British players can take great satisfaction from the way they frustrated their classy opponents.
“The game was tough,” said Kazakh national coach Galym Mambetaliev. “Britain play fast, committed hockey. It was a good game.
“What helped us is that our guys played patiently and that they started to play simpler.”
Britain scored first when Luke Ferrara fired past goaltender Henrik Karlsson with a fierce shot from the left.
The longer the game went, the better Kazakhstan played, the better they used their skill and the better they capitalised on scoring opportunities.
Roman Starchenko (2), Dmitri Grents, Sagadeyev, Alikhan Assetov and Nikita Mikhail’s were the Kazakh scorers
“We will win [the tournament],” Starchenko promised with a smile. “I’m maybe 50 per cent happy. I had more chances to score and our power play was bad.”
GB had dominated the opening stages when Ben Davies, Robert Dowd and Ben O’Connor all went close on the same shift as Kazakhstan chased shadows.
But they grew stronger and GB were second best over the 60 minutes.
GB gave back-up netminder Jackson Whistle hit first taste of World Championship hockey, sending him on for Bowns, and now they will focus on the match against Poland on Wednesday (4om European time, pm UK time).
World Championship matches for Britain in Budapest:
Sunday 22 Great Britain 3 Slovenia 1
Tuesday 24 Kazakhstan 6, Great Britain 1
Wednesday 25 Great Britain v Poland
Friday 27 Italy v Great Britain
Saturday 28 Hungary v Great Britain