The South Korean men's ice hockey team secured its third consecutive win by defeating Japan in the 'Korea-Japan match' held on the opening day of the 2025 Harbin Winter Asian Games.
Led by head coach Kim Woo-jae, the men's ice hockey team won 5-2 against Japan in the third match of Group A of the tournament preliminaries held on July 7 at the student ice rink of Harbin Sports University in China.
The men's team achieved three consecutive wins in the group stage. They won their first match against the home team, China, 6-5 after overtime on 4th, and secured a dominating win of 14-1 against Taiwan in the second match on 5th. By defeating Japan on this day, they accumulated 8 points (3 wins) to rank second in the group behind Kazakhstan (3 wins, 9 points).
In ice hockey, winning in regular time earns 3 points, while winning in overtime gives 2 points. Japan maintained 6 points with 2 wins and 1 loss, placing them third.
Ranked 22nd in the world, South Korea faced 24th-ranked Japan in a fierce battle during the first period. South Korea conceded the first goal to Japan's Okubo Masato in a short-handed situation just 2 minutes and 25 seconds into the first period. However, at 6 minutes and 6 seconds, 'clutch player' Lee Chong-min tied the game with a goal. This marked Lee's fifth goal of the tournament.
After a strong save from goaltender Lee Yeon-seung, South Korea ended the first period tied at 1-1. Just 27 seconds into the second period, a team play involving Lee Chong-min, Ahn Jin-hwi, and Kim Sang-wook successfully turned the game around. Although they allowed an equalizer to Irikura Daiga about a minute later, Kim Sang-yeob regained the lead with a powerful mid-range shot 7 minutes and 24 seconds into the game.
With 3 minutes and 19 seconds left in the second period, Kim Sang-wook scored an additional goal, widening the score margin to 4-2. Although they faced another short-handed situation in the latter part of the third period and endured pressure from Japan, South Korea held firm without allowing any goals. With just 1 minute and 28 seconds remaining, Oh In-kyo scored a critical goal, sealing the comeback victory.