Canada squeeks by Norway

Kevin Martin and his Canada rink keep their unbeaten record alive, but just barely. In this morning's draw, the Canadian team took on Thomas Ulsrud of Norway.

Canada got off to a slow start, being held to a single point with the hammer in the opening end. Things didn't get any better when Norway scored a duce in the second, followed up by a steal in the third. But then Martin answered back with a duce of his own in the fourth, only to be erased by Norway scoring two in the fifth.

The Norway squad were keeping up with the Canadians in shooting percentages, with both teams averaging in the 90% range at the fifth end break.

Martin turned up the offense a bit in the sixth end, only to have Ulsrud make a nice shot to clean out the house and force Martin to blank. But Martin went right back on the offense in the seventh to knock Norway for four points and jump out to a 7-5 lead in the game.

Ulsrud and his Norwegian team clawed back into it by scoring two in the tenth end to tie things up at 8-8. This sent the game to an eleventh end, in which Canada had last rock. Martin took full advantage of the hammer and got away with the 9-8 win after scoring a single in the extra end.

This close-call moves Canada even further into first place, having a perfect 6-0 with their nearest competitors at 4-2 records. For Norway, the loss leaves them clinging to a playoff spot. Only the top four teams will advance, and with a 4-3 record, Norway is now tied with Scotland for that final playoff berth.