Norway, Denmark to vie for Olympic berth

Japan 2 Denmark 3 OT (1-2, 1-0, 0-0, 0-1)

Japan gave Denmark a real fight before falling in overtime to Lars Eller’s goal at 3:45. The Danish captain grabbed the rebound from his own effort, circled into another shooting lane, and finally ended the resistance of Yuta Narisawa in the Japanese net.

Despite dropping a point here, the host nation’s Olympic destiny remains in its own hands: any kind of victory over Norway tomorrow would be enough for top spot and a ticket to Italy.

But Japan, the lowest ranked team to make the final qualification round, deserves enormous credit after pushing the top seed all the way. And the Japanese might even have claimed a famous victory if Yu Sato’s overtime effort had bounced off the other side of Frederik Andersen’s post.

Denmark applied the early pressure in this game and Eller had a good chance off a feed from Nicklas Jensen in the corner right at the start. However, Japan claimed a shock lead midway through the first period.

It was the second game in a row that the Japanese surprised a higher-ranked opponent and, just as against Norway, Chikara Hanzawa and Teruto Nakajima combined to do the damage. Hanzawa robbed Nicholas B. Jensen of the puck behind the net and popped it out in front for Nakajima to fire past Andersen.

Unlike the Norway game, where Japan led until the 35th minute, Denmark found an instant response. Jonas Rondbjerg released Alexander True down the left and collected a return pass before going behind the net to score on the wraparound.

Japan almost regained the lead when Koki Yoneyama’s point shot skidded awkwardly in front of Andersen and got behind him, but the goalie reacted before an opposing forward could touch the puck into the net.

Late in the first period, Denmark began to assert itself. A neat passing play put the home team in front, Morten Poulsen from the left channel setting up Christian Wejse for a deft backhanded finish at 17:31. It seemed that Japan was on the rocks.

Despite that late lift, the Danes could not forge ahead in the second period. As against Britain on Thursday, they had possession but struggled to create clear-cut chances. True fired at Narisawa when well placed, then Eller sent Nikolaj Ehlers clean through, only for the Winnipeg star to shoot wide.

Japan hung around bravely and got its reward after 36 minutes when Makuru Furuhashi tied the game. It started with a battling effort from Taiga Irikura in the corner, getting the puck to Hiroto Sato on the point. He stepped…