Japan held on to a narrow victory over France in their opener at the 2026 Olympics in Milan. Playing a deadlocked game for the bulk of 60 minutes, Japan broke the tie late in regulation to earn a 3-2 win. After a scoreless first period, Japanese captain Rui Ukita took a drop pass from Akane Shiga before beating Alice Philbert top shelf. French captain Lore Baudrit answered back for France pinballing a puck into the Japanese crease. In the third, the teams traded chances until only 3:30 remaining when Makoto Ito broke the deadlock, followed by Suzuka Maeda scoring into the empty net 1:20 later. Gabrielle de Serres would cut Japan's lead to one again with only 13 seconds remaining, but it was too little too late. It was only the second time the nations had met internationally. Alice Philbert made 35 saves in the losing effort for France. Philbert has helped keep the French competitive despite falling to Italy to open the tournament in a lopsided fashion, followed by the narrow loss to Japan. Japan plays Germany February 7, followed by France facing Sweden on February 8.
