Four-time Grand Slam winner Jeff Stoughton improved to 2-0 at the Canadian Open with a 6-5 win over Brad Gushue in Draw 3 action Thursday in Medicine Hat, Alta.
Gushue, from St. John’s, N.L., tied it up 5-5 with a triple in the sixth but Stoughton blanked the seventh to retain the hammer coming home.
Stoughton blasted Gushue’s shot rock out of the house with his final stone and earned the game-winning single.
Gushue, the 2006 Olympic gold medallist, fell to 1-1 at the tournament.
Canadian Open action continues on Sportsnet ONE at 7:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. MT featuring Mike McEwen taking on John Epping in Draw 4 action.
Elsewhere, Glenn Howard (1-1) avenged an opening draw loss to Oskar Eriksson with a 5-1 win in seven ends against reigning world champion Niklas Edin (0-2).
Eriksson, who also plays alternate for Edin’s rink, upset Howard with a 5-4 victory Wednesday night. Edin’s final stone in the fourth hit a rut in the ice and stopped short of the house, giving up a steal of two. Howard, from Penetanguishene, Ont., stole a single in the fifth and sealed the victory with another point in the seventh.
Rob Rumfeldt (2-0) grabbed a triple in the seventh during a 9-4 win over Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud (0-2). Rumfeldt, from Guelph, Ont., had four stones lined up near the tee line in the fourth end and Ulsrud’s final shot clipped the lead rock giving up the quadruple steal to pull away in the match.
Kevin Koe scored three in the seventh and beat Brendan Bottcher 8-4 in an all-Alberta rink matchup. Koe’s Calgary team improved to a 2-0 record while Bottcher, from Edmonton, fell to 0-2.
John Epping (1-1) earned a triple in the final end to give his Toronto team its first win of the tournament with a 10-7 win over John Morris’ Vernon, B.C., rink. Morris dropped to a 1-1 record.