While putting on more pressure, Croatia forced Lithuania into taking penalties. Mike Glumac hit the underside of the bar but a few minutes later, it was Andy Sertic who perfectly executed during a two-man advantage.

"Their goalie played great and showed why he's so highly regarded in the Sweden,' forward Ryan Kinasewich said. "It took us a while before we managed to find a way to beat him."

Croatia's 2-1 lead heading into the third period was largely thanked to a superb defensive display by Kenny MacAuley. With his goaltender down and out, MacAuley made a diving safe to stop the puck from going in which earned him a big hug from Dekanich afterwards.

In the final period, the Croatians finally were able to dominate large parts of the play and when you could hear a sigh of relief from the Croatian bench when Kinasewich fired home the 3-1 on yet another power play.

Andy Murray completed the Croatian party with an empty net goal.

A win in regular time over Lithuania was vital for Croatia who would have become dependent on the results of other teams if they wanted to keep their promotion hopes alive. They are now still very much in contention with four points from two games, one less than Great Britain while Korea faces the Netherlands tonight and try to stay unbeaten.

"We really needed this win and are glad that we've got rid of the zero in the W-column," admitted Ryan Kinasewich. "We can now use the rest day to get ready for the final three games." And time is a rare commodity during such tournaments so will be used to its maximum effect. 

"We still need to work on our systems," Alberta-born Kinasewich knew. "We haven't had the time to play together with this group so that's certainly something we can improve on."

Lithuania remain mid table with the three points picked up yesterday and can use the non-playing day to prepare for their next game against Baltic rivals Estonia.