Gushue defeats Flasch to reach Brier semifinal despite loss of Nichols

Pressed into a three-man setup after the withdrawal of vice Mark Nichols, the Wild Card One team skipped by Brad Gushue showed Saturday that it can play just as well short-handed as even strength.

Gushue made a game-winning angle-runback to score three points for a 9-7 victory over Saskatchewan's Colton Flasch in the 3-4 Page playoff game at the Tim Hortons Brier.

It paid off with a strong performance in a game that featured tremendous shotmaking from both sides.

"(It's) like playing a hockey game killing a penalty for 60 minutes," Gushue said. "It is that big a difference in my opinion."

The 2022 Olympic bronze medallists advanced to the semifinal with the win. Alberta's Kevin Koe was scheduled to play Canada's Brendan Bottcher in the 1-2 Page playoff game Saturday night at the Enmax Centre.

After an opening blank, Gushue made a soft raise takeout for a pair to open the scoring. Second Brett Gallant and lead Geoff Walker raised their fists in the air to salute the skip at the other end of the ice.

Nichols chimed in on Twitter by posting three flame emojis.

Flasch also showed his big-game mettle in front of a near-capacity crowd. He made a hit for two in the third end and forced Gushue to find a tight port against three for a single in the fourth.

The Saskatchewan skip made an in-off for a pair to take a 4-3 lead into the mid-game break.

In the sixth end, Gallant made a hit-and-roll that just stuck around the edge of the 12-foot ring to set up a Gushue deuce. Flasch settled for one in the seventh and a Gushue in-off in the eighth end gave him a 6-5 lead.

Flasch made a soft tap for two in the ninth end but vice Catlin Schneider missed a double takeout in the 10th end. Flasch was still able to draw around a centre guard to