TORONTO — Winnipeg’s Jeff Stoughton capitalized on Kevin Martin’s mistake and scored a deuce in the final end to win 5-4 at the Players’ Championship on Friday night.
Stoughton enters the playoffs on a three-game win streak after dropping his opening round-robin match against Steve Laycock.
With Stoughton leading 2-1, Martin tried to score two in the fourth but after a close measurement his Edmonton rink was only able to claim a single to tie it up.
Martin went ahead 3-2 after Stoughton couldn’t drag his final shot to the button, giving up a steal of one in the fifth.
The two teams then traded singles heading into the eighth.
Stoughton has won four out of six matches against Martin this year including their last three games.
Martin (2-2) now faces defending Players’ champion John Epping (2-2) in a tiebreaker.
Watch the Players’ Championship men’s quarter-finals Saturday at 3 p.m. ET on CBC and the semifinals at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sportsnet East, Ontario, West and Pacific.
In other Draw 13 action, Glenn Howard scored three in the seventh end to pull ahead and win 5-3 over Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen.
The Coldwater, Ont., rink finished the round-robin with a perfect 4-0 record.
Howard opened the scoring with a pair in the second end. McEwen earned a deuce and stole one in the fifth to grab a 3-2 lead but Howard blanked the sixth end to retain the hammer and set up the winning end.
McEwen qualified for the playoff round with a 3-1 record.
Canadian champion Brad Jacobs and his Team Easy Express squad were victorious in extra ends with a 5-4 win versus Calgary’s Kevin Koe.
Jacobs, from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., finished with a 3-1 and advanced to the playoffs.
Koe (2-2) now takes on St. John’s, N.L., native Brad Gushue (2-2) in a tiebreaker match.