In what was an even battle for the majority of the game, a controversial tripping call on Evan Mosey allowed Christian Wejse to score the powerplay winner for the Danes with 7:59 remaining and inflict a fourth straight loss on GB.

That leaves them three points adrift of Norway at the bottom of Group A as the only nation yet to pick up a point at these World Championships, with Austria a further point ahead in the race to avoid relegation.

GB does face both sides in its final three games, taking on hosts Czechia on Saturday (7:20pm UK time) before back-to-back games against Norway and Austria on Monday and Tuesday to round out the group stages, although the latter two sides also meet on Sunday in three crucial games that will decide who finishes bottom.

Should Austria defeat Norway in regulation on Sunday then a regulation win over the Norwegians a day later would be enough for GB to stay up, as would two regulation wins in their final two games, otherwise they will need to pick up a combination of points in at least two of their last three games to avoid the drop.

But they will be left to reflect on a missed chance to put their first points on the board against the Danes, the two sides hard to separate for the majority of the contest until Wejse struck the winner in the dying stages.

Belfast Giants winger Ben Lake recorded an assist, while netminder Jackson Whistle made 24 saves on 28 shots for GB as once again they came up just short in Prague, another story of no shortage of effort or chances but just not quite enough to put a win on the board, or at least get to overtime.

They had led just 5:25 in when Liam Kirk beat netminder Frederik Dichow – 28 saves – on the wraparound, but just 61 seconds later Denmark had their equaliser as Mikkel Aagaard finished Oscar Fisker Mølgaard’s spinning feed.

Then it became the Danes’ turn to lead, Belfast Giants winger Sean Norris penalised for kneeing and Phillip Bruggisser slamming in a shot from the point for the powerplay goal at 8:25, but GB would have it tied at the second intermission as Cade Neilson redirected in Mosey’s pass at 10:28.

Aagaard grabbed his second goal of the game, exchanging passes with Nick Olesen to tap in just 1:42 into the second period to hand Denmark back the lead, but it would be another tied intermission as Nathanael Halbert took advantage of an elbowing minor on Bruggisser, rifling home from the slot with 1:26 remaining in the middle frame just as the defenceman’s penalty expired.

But Wejse would call game midway through the third, tipping in Joachim Blichfeld’s centring pass for the powerplay goal, and despite having a late two-man powerplay late on with Whistle pulled for the extra skater, GB could not beat Dichow once more as they fell to defeat.