Brad Gushue clinched first place in Pool B at the Tim Hortons Brier with an extra-end 6-5 win over Jason Gunnlaugson on Thursday.
The win improved Gushue’s record to 7-0 with just one draw remaining for Pool B teams.
Gushue’s Wild Card One team trailed Gunnlaugson’s Wild Card Three squad 4-3 after eight ends. But Gushue, who won a bronze medal at last month’s Beijing Olympics, scored two in the ninth to take the lead.
Gunnlaugson scored one in the 10th after a measurement, but Gushue had the hammer in the extra end and made it count.
Gunnlaugson wrapped up the round robin with a 5-3 record and had to wait until after Thursday’s final draw to learn his playoff fate.
READ MORE: Brier Pool B race tight as round robin nears end
Two other teams in the playoff hunt posted wins in the morning draw, with Manitoba’s Mike McEwen defeating Jamie Koe of the Northwest Territories 7-3 and British Columbia’s Brent Pierce cruising to a 9-2 victory over Nunavut’s Peter Mackey.
McEwen improved to 5-2, tied for second in the group with idle Brad Jacobs of Northern Ontario, while Pierce upped his record to 4-3.
The top three teams in each group at the end of the round robin advance to the playoffs. Tiebreaks, if necessary, will be held Friday before the start of the playoffs.
Also Thursday morning, Quebec thumped Nova Scotia 14-6. Both teams were at 3-4 and out of the playoffs.
The final Group A draw was scheduled for Thursday afternoon.
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