Croatia recorded their first victory of the World Championship Division 1 Group B in Belfast by beating Netherlands 6-2 in the SSE Arena.
After defeats to GB and Japan, Borna Rendulic scored twice for the Netherlands to help secure their first points of the tournament.
Ivan Jankovic slotted Croatia into the lead inside the first two minutes (1:59) and Borna Rendulic made it 2-0 when his blast from the left circle trickled under Fabian Schotel at 13:29.
Matija Milicic fired in off the post (13:41) and Luka Jarcov (13:50) broke free to score to complete a sequence of three Croatia goals in 21 seconds.
This brought about a change in the Netherlands goal with Sjoerd Idzenka replacing Schotel.
Mislav Blagus touched in a fifth goal at 21:35 following a well-worked move after Netherlands failed to clear the zone.
Raymond van der Schuit got Netherlands on the board with a shot through traffic (37:25) and scored his second of the night on a five-on-three powerplay (55:25).
Rendulic broke away short-handed to complete the scoring for Croatia at 58:33 and wrap-up an emphatic victory.
Netherlands remain bottom of the table without a win in their three matches.
The final game today see’s two unbeaten teams go head-to-head as GB play Lithuania.
Photo credit: Ian Offers.