Smile Japan scored a historic victory with a 4-1 triumph over Korea on Wednesday in their final Group B preliminary-round game at Kwandong Hockey Centre.
Japan had lost 12 straight Olympic contests going back to the 1998 Nagano Games before notching the win. Japan dropped all five contests in both Nagano and Sochi, and its first two games here.
Japan fell 2-1 to Sweden on Saturday in its opening match and 3-1 to Switzerland in its second game on Monday.