LONDON, ONT. — If Kevin Martin is going to win his record fifth Canadian men’s curling championship as a skip, he’s going to have to do it the hard way — a repeat of Kevin Koe’s performance from 2010 for Alberta, battling through the Page Playoff 3-4 game.

That would mean three straight playoff victories over the last two days of the Tim Hortons Brier at the John Labatt Centre.

A 6-5 triumph over Ontario’s Glenn Howard on Thursday night’s final round-robin draw lifted Martin and his Alberta rink of third John Morris, second Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert to the 9-2 mark he had targeted all along.

But all that log got the Saville Centre rink was third place overall.

The win forces a rematch with Howard in the Page Playoff 3-4 game Saturday at 12:30 p.m. But the good news for Martin is, with the Thursday victory, he has now stretched his dominant win streak over Howard at a Brier to seven games over the last four events.

Which, if you listen to Martin, doesn’t mean a single thing.

“Not a bit because we had a real run going against Jeff (Stoughton), too, and man he was making everything and when you make everything, you win,” said Martin, who earlier in the day defeated Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories 7-6 to clinch a playoff spot. “But it’ll be a heck of a 3-4 game. He beat us this year at the Canada Cup final.”

The frustration for Howard was evident afterward as a win over Martin would have given the Ontario skip first place overall and a berth to the Page 1-2 game.

“It’s frustrating. Yeah, a little bit. I don’t want to lose to anybody, to lose seven is tough,” Howard admitted. “We definitely didn’t bring our ‘A’ game and that’s what we’re going to have to do. Obviously it’s one of the best teams, or the best team, in the world.

“I can’t deny it for sure,” added Howard, who fell behind 2-0 after one end and 4-1 after three before battling back and tying the game at 5-5 after nine. “I don’t like to get beaten seven in a row by anybody, let alone Kevin Martin.

“It was a huge game, we win that and we were in the 1-2 game. Now you have to go through the hard route. But it doesn’t matter who you play now, you have to win three in a row. It’ll be another epic battle on Saturday.”

That’s virtually guaranteed every time the two teams step on the curling ice.

Newfoundland and Labrador’s Brad Gushue finished first overall courtesy of a 9-7 win over Quebec’s Francois Gagne on Thursday night. Stoughton, of Manitoba, finished second. Both had identical records to Martin, at 9-2, but leap Alberta due to head-to-head results. Gushue faces Stoughton in the Page 1-2 game Friday night at 5:30, with Gushue earning hammer.

Stoughton blew an opportunity to clinch first by losing 8-5 to Gushue in the morning draw. Stoughton, who was perfect the night previous curling 100 per cent in a 5-1 win over Martin, slipped against Newfoundland with a costly double jam in the eighth end that allowed a steal of three to fall behind 6-5.

“It was just a friggin’ bonehead shot in eight. I mean I wish everyone was a little more adamant that we could double-jam. I never thought we could double-jam. It was the stupidest shot. It was a Junior B group piece of crap. To throw that … I never thought it would double-jam. If someone said that it would, I would have never thrown that shot,” said Stoughton. “It gave them the easy three.”

Meanwhile, Martin pulled out a thrilling 7-6 win over Jamie Koe in the afternoon on a circus-shot, raised double takeout for two with his final rock of the 10th end. Koe had Martin on the ropes, if not for the last shot, which looked like it might produce just a single and force an extra end.

“It was the only shot we had,” said Martin. “What would you call it? A 15- or 18-foot two-ball combination straight back, but we couldn’t afford to jam the darn thing at the back. A bit of good fortune, I suppose. It was probably the only shot I made that game, so I might as well make it a good one.”

Martin curled a poor 60 per cent in that victory that clinched a playoff berth. He bounced back with a 78 per cent effort in the win over Howard. It was Morris who really shone, though, at 93 per cent after a 70 per cent effort in the afternoon.

“Johnny played a heck of a game,” said Martin. “We were real solid, I was happy with the effort.”

mannicchiarico@edmontonjournal.com

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