Smile Japan suffered a 2-1 defeat to Sweden in their opening Group B preliminary-round match at the Kwandong Hockey Centre on Saturday night.
Japan fell behind early in the contest, then tied it late in the second period, before surrendering the decisive goal early in the third period.
Japan's defense was solid for most of the evening, but its play on offense was marked by sloppy passing and carelessness with the puck.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.