Ice Hockey World Championship: Great Britain suffer sixth defeat

GB trailed 6-1 at the end of the second period

Great Britain suffered their sixth successive defeat at the World Championship as hosts Slovakia recorded a resounding 7-1 win.

Slovakia scored twice in 21 seconds in the early stages in Kosice and were 3-0 up after nine minutes.

Mike Hammond converted a loose puck to pull one back in the first period, his third goal of the tournament.

Britain's final match takes place on Monday against France, who are also yet to record a win in the event.

The GB men secured promotion back into ice hockey's elite level for the first time since 1994 with a memorable overtime win against Hungary in Budapest last year.

But they have conceded 38 goals in their opening six matches, with only five scored.

Netminder Jackson Whistle played over 44 minutes after replacing Ben Bowns, who was withdrawn after taking a minor knock.

"We came up against another top-quality side but, credit to the boys, they kept on going - and I felt we got better as the game went on and we finished strong," he said. "Despite not getting a win, there is great belief in our room and we know we have been close in some games to picking up a result."

Analysis

BBC Sport reporter Seth Bennett in Slovakia

GB minds must now consider a possible date with destiny, when they face relegation rivals France on Monday.

Finland did GB a favour and beat the French in the late game on Sunday to make Monday's game a nerve-jangling final. France have found plenty of ways in the past to save their top-flight status.

The one worry for head coach Pete Russell is that goalie Ben Bowns left the game with an injury. It is unclear exactly what is wrong with the netminder, but Bowns being 100% and firing on all cylinders is really important for the team to be successful.

He is an elite goalie who loves the big stage and now he will need his best performance of the tournament, assuming he is fit, for GB to have a chance of staying up.