Great Britain beat Ukraine 4-3 after penalty shots in a dramatic opening game at the World Championship Division I Group A in Romania.
GB led 2-0 but had to come from 3-2 down to secure the victory, as Ben Bowns saved all four Ukraine penalties on the night he won his 82nd cap to equal Stevie Lyle for the most appearances by a GB netminder.
Three players made their debut as Kieran Brown became the 434th player to represent GB, Joe Hazeldine the 435th and Logan Neilson the 436th.
Bowns produced a good pad save to deny Olexander Peresunko and Ollie Betteridge made a great diving block as Ukraine made a strong start.
Igor Merezhko hit the pipes for Ukraine on the powerplay and Bowns came up big to stop Viktor Zakharov’s shot from the slot.
GB grew into the period the longer it went on and moments after Logan Neilson hit the base of the post, Josh Waller tipped in Nathanael Halbert’s shot for a one-goal lead (11:08).
Kieran Brown registered his first GB point as he fed Ben O’Connor, whose shot was tipped past Alexander Levshin by Brett Perlini (21:30).
Ukraine closed the gap through Viktor Zakharov’s breakaway (25:45), and Danil Trakht made it 2-2 with a neat shot across Bowns from the left-circle (32:01).
Ukraine went ahead thanks to Denys Boradai’s low shot from the right-circle (49:16), before GB had a goal disallowed when Ben Lake was adjudged to have kicked the puck into the net.
GB were level just over a minute-and-a-half later as Ben O’Connor scored from the left-wing, with the goal given after another video review (52:42).
Four saves for Bowns in shootout
Bowns made an outstanding pad save to stop Trakht in overtime and denied the Ukraine forward on a breakaway.
O’Connor and Ben Lake netted for GB in the shootout and Bowns saved all four of Ukraine’s attempts to secure the extra point.
GB return to action on Monday against hosts Romania at 19:30 (17:30 BST).
Great Britain | Division 1A IIHF World Championship schedule
Sunday 27 April: Ukraine 3-4 Great Britain (after penalty shots)
Monday 28 April: Great Britain vs Romania (17:30 BST)
Wednesday 30 April: Great Britain vs Japan (10:30 BST)
Thursday 1 May: Italy vs Great Britain (10:30 BST)
Saturday 3 May: Great Britain vs Poland (17:30 BST)
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