A young Great Britain side produced a battling performance but were beaten 3-0 by Italy in the opening game of the men’s IIHF European Cup of Nations in Sosnowiec.

Six players made their GB debut – defencemen Noah Kääriäinen as well as forwards Carter Hamill, Connor Lee, Ricards Misins, Jake Sacratini and Edgars Vengis.

Lucas Brine, who made 34 saves, started between the pipes with Ben Clarke-Leach as back-up.

Italy lead at first intermission
GB forward Logan Neilson had a chance from the slot in the opening stages and at the other end, Brine made two great close-range saves to deny Alan Lobis and Tommy Purdeller.

Brine made a fine stop with his blocker to turn away Tommaso De Luca’s effort on the powerplay, but was beaten moments after the man-advantage came to an end as Luca Zanatta set-up Phil Pietroniro for a one-timer from the left-circle (16:46).

Brine keeps Italy at bay
Ivan Deluca found space in the GB zone and Brine produced a good glove save, while the GB netminder produced an outstanding stop to deny Lobis on the breakaway.

Neilson and Ollie Betteridge had shots saved by Italy netminder Davide Fadani on the powerplay as the period drew to a close.

Two third-period goals secure Italian victory
Italy had a goal disallowed midway through the third session for netminder interference and soon after, Brine made a stunning sprawling save to stop Purdeller’s shot from the right-circle on the powerplay.

Lobis beat Brine through the five-hole to score Italy’s second (52:38) and De Luca netted on his backhand on a shorthanded breakaway to seal his side the victory (55:26).

GB are back in action tomorrow (Friday) against Ukraine with a 16:00 face-off (15:00 GMT).

Great Britain schedule and results
Thursday 5th November: Great Britain 0-3 Italy
Friday 6th November: Ukraine v Great Britain 16:00 (15:00 GMT)
Saturday 7th November: Poland v Great Britain 14:45 (13:45 GMT)