SAULT STE. MARIE, Ont. — Defending champion Glenn Howard scored four in the seventh end to defeat John Epping 9-5 during Draw 7 action at the Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling National Friday.
Team Howard (4-0) now look to cap the round robin with a perfect record when they face Matthew Blandford’s Calgary rink in Draw 9 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Howard, from Penetanguishene, Ont., held the hammer to start the game and nailed a runback with his final shot to take out two but he couldn’t get Epping’s third stone to leave the house and gave up a single steal. Howard came back to tie it 1-1 with a raised takeout to score one in the second.
Epping looked to blank the third but his second rock overcurled and the runback attempt missed Howard’s shot stone to steal a point. Howard rolled wide and heavy with his first stone in four and Epping capitalized to set up the deuce and pull ahead 3-2. Howard made three in the fifth to jump back into the lead until Epping knotted it up with a deuce in six.
Epping, from Toronto, fell to a 2-2 record and plays hometown hero Brad Jacobs, the Sochi Olympics gold medallist, in the evening draw.
Pinty’s GSOC National: Latest scores & stats
Elsewhere in Draw 7, Switzerland’s Peter de Cruz ran away winning 9-2 in five ends over Masters champion Brad Gushue, from St. John’s, N.L. De Cruz earned a deuce in the first, stole three in the second and iced the game with a score of four in the fifth. Both teams hold 1-3 records in the tournament.
Calgary’s John Morris improved to a 2-2 record with a 10-2 rout in five ends over John Shuster, from Duluth, Minn. Morris scored three in the first and stole three in the second to jump out 6-0 and padded his lead with a deuce in four and a steal of two in five. Morris held Shuster (1-4) to just a deuce in the third.
Calgary’s Kevin Koe also moved up to a 2-2 record after he scored three in the seventh to pull ahead and win 6-3 over Rob Rumfeldt (0-4), from Guelph, Ont.
Saskatoon’s Steve Laycock (2-2) stole two in the seventh and earned a 6-5 victory over Heath McCormick (2-2), from Blaine, Minn.