Great Britain were beaten 4-0 by Finland in their fifth game at the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship at the Swiss Life Arena in Zurich.
Mat Robson, who made 43 stops including a string of top-class saves, started between the pipes with Ben Bowns as back-up.
Johnny Curran and Jack Hopkins returned to the line-up in place of Brad Jenion and Cole Shudra as Pete Russell went with 13 forwards and seven defencemen.
It was a special night for one of GB’s long-serving Equipment Managers, Steve Small, who was awarded his 75th cap in a pre-game ceremony in the locker room.
Early goal sees Finland lead at first intermission
Finland went ahead inside the opening minute through Ville Heinola’s bullet of a slapshot from left-point (00:58).
Robson made two good close-range saves at the halfway point of the first period and then denied Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov’s on the powerplay.
Boston Bruins netminder Joonas Korpisalo shut the door on shots from Bayley Harewood and Josh Waller from the right-circle as Finland went to the first intermission with a one-goal advantage.
Robson makes top-class saves by Finland lead by three
Heinola was denied early in the second session by a great pad save by Robson as Finland continued to pile on the pressure.
Finland scored their second when Robson lost his stick and moments after he got it back, Heinola fired a bullet into the top left-hand corner for his second of the night (28:30).
Mikko Lehtonen, playing on his home ice of ZSC Lions, scored from the top of the right-circle (31:51).
Robson continued to make some top-class stops and he denied Sakari Manninen on the breakaway with a great pad save in the closing stages of the second period.
Finland secure fifth victory of tournament
Mark Richardson made a neat move on the blueline but his long-range shot was saved by Korpisalo.
Robson twice denied both Heinola and Barkov on a Finland third-period powerplay with a string of top-class
A lovely tic-tac-toe in the offensive zone saw Finland score their fourth as Henri Jokiharju netted with a one-timer from the left-circle (58:50).
There’s no action for GB tomorrow but they return to action on Sunday (24th May) against Latvia at 16:20 (15:20 BST).
For full news, results and statistics from the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship visit the tournament website.
2026 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship: Group A in Zurich
Saturday 16th May: Great Britain 2-5 Austria
Sunday 17th May: Great Britain 1-5 USA
Tuesday 19th May: Hungary 5-0 Great Britain
Thursday 21st May: Switzerland 4-1 Great Britain
Friday 22nd May: Finland 4-0 Great Britain
Sunday 24th May: Great Britain v Latvia 16:20 (15:20 BST)
Monday 25th May: Germany v Great Britain 20:20 (19:20 BST)
