Skip Cheryl Bernard scored two points in the final end giving Canada a 7-6 victory over Japan in a mistake-filled second game of the women’s Olympic curling round-robin.
Canada is now 2-0 after the win, while Japan, led by skip Moe Meguro, fell to 1-1.
In the eighth end, leading 5-4, Meguro made a critical error with her last stone allowing Bernard to make a draw to the button for a single point.
Japan had two rocks at the top of the four-foot, and Meguro attempted to block off any access Bernard would have to the button. Her draw was heavy, and fell to the back of the four-foot. Bernard was able to follow that stone down to sit on the button to even the score at five.
After forcing Japan to a single point in the ninth end, Bernard had last rock advantage in the final end, and was left with an open hit on her final throw to record the winning point.
It was the second straight day that the Canadian skip had to make a dramatic last shot to win. On Tuesday, a draw to the button gave Canada a 5-4 win over Switzerland.
Canada gave Japan a 3-0 lead after two ends when Bernard missed a draw, crashing on a guard, and Japan stole three points. Canada scored two with the hammer in the third end and they took the lead after five ends when the Japanese skip missed a draw to the button with her final stone, giving Canada a steal of two.
Meguro struggled on both hits and draws throughout the contest, shooting only 54 per cent, while Bernard was 75 per cent.
In other action from the second draw, Germany is 2-0 after holding off the United States for a 6-5 victory. The U.S. is off to a disappointing 0-2 start after losing to Japan 9-7 on Tuesday.
Sweden also won their second straight game, defeating Switzerland 8-7 in an extra end. Switzerland is now 0-2 after dropping their first contest to Canada Tuesday.
19-year-old Great Britain skip Eve Muirhead upset China with a 5-4 victory in the opening match for both teams.