Defending champion remains perfect
Newfoundland’s Gushue outlasts Nova Scotia rivals at Brier
REGINA — Brad Gushue and his Team Canada rink improved to 5-0 at the 2018 Tim Hortons Brier with a 9-5 win over Nova Scotia in Tuesday’s afternoon draw.
The defending Canadian men’s curling champions scored two points in the seventh end and wrapped up the win with two more in the ninth after Jamie Murphy and his Halifax rink held Gushue to task for much of the game.
Gushue maintained first place in Pool A over Alberta and the wildcard team, tied for second at 4-1.
“It was a good game. I thought we played pretty solid, a couple little mistakes that we need to clean up but I like how our team is throwing it and we are looking forward to tomorrow,” Gushue said. “Two games so we’ll rest up tonight, get a good dinner and be ready to go.”
Northern Ontario’s Brad Jacobs, Manitoba’s Reid Carruthers and Ontario’s John Epping improved to 5-1 atop Pool B with wins in Tuesday’s night draw.
Gushue was the only undefeated skip remaining in Regina after Manitoba and Northern Ontario suffered losses in Tuesday’s early draw.
Carruthers suffered his first loss in a 10-5 defeat to Ontario and Jacobs fell 8-4 to host Saskatchewan. Steve Laycock’s team opened the scoring with four in the second end and added a three-point fifth end en route to improving its record to 3-2.
“We didn’t really have a good command of the ice and the rocks, it was a pretty poor performance personally,” Northern Ontario vice-skip Ryan Fry said of their loss to Saskatchewan. “Brad was able to rebound with a great game (Tuesday night), so as long as one of us is playing really good we’ve got a chance at winning.”
With a new format that includes a wild-card team for the first time, Gushue said he altered his approach a little at this Brier.
“I took it a little lighter early on in the week, especially this year with the two Olympic trials and a big push, there’s a burnout factor that you have to take into account. From an intensity standpoint, we are starting to ramp it up.”
B.C. defeated Newfoundland 12-6. Both teams finished the day tied at 1-4.
St. John’s skip Greg Smith gave Newfoundland a big lead with one in the first and a steal of three in the second. But Kelowna’s Sean Geall responded with nine points over the next three ends.
— The Canadian Press