Team Canada, led by skip Brad Gushue, earned a 7-4 victory over Team Wouter Goesgens of the Netherlands (2-5) and improved to 6-1 to maintain its hold on second place in the standings. 

Gushue, vice-skip Mark Nichols, second E.J. Harnden and lead Geoff Walker outplayed the Dutch at every position, but it was still a battle.

“That was a perfect example of patience today,” Harnden said. “Not having to push the envelope because it wasn’t needed and it probably saved the sweeping and stress level a little bit.”

Canada broke through late in the game thanks to a skip’s deuce from Gushue in the eighth end. The Canadians made a runback to sit one, followed by a tap with the last stone to take the two and a three-point lead late in the game. In the ninth, Team Gushue made a double, avoiding the jam and sticking the shooter in the house to force the Netherlands to one. The Netherlands did its best to score a pair in the 10th, but Canada tacked on another point.

Canada is back on the ice today in Switzerland against winless South Korea’s Team Jongduk Park (0-7) at 2:30 NL time.