Japan beats SKorea in Olympic hockey qualifier

NIKKO, Japan (AP) -Shuhei Kuji scored a power play goal in overtime on Saturday as Japan beat South Korea 3-2 in the first round of Olympic ice hockey qualifying for the 2014 Sochi Games.

South Korea tied the game with 11 seconds left in the third period but Kuji sealed the win in overtime as Japan improved to 2-0 in the round-robin tournament.

Japan is seeking its first Olympic berth since automatically qualifying as host of the 1998 Nagano Olympics and could advance to the final round of qualifying with a win over Britain on Sunday.

Britain beat Romania 3-0 in Saturday's other game to improve to 1-1.

Three teams can earn berths for the Sochi Olympics through qualifying to join the top nine teams from the International Ice Hockey Federation's world rankings.