Team Northern Ontario continued to roll on Wednesday afternoon at the 2021 Tim Hortons Brier in Calgary.
Skipped by Sault Ste. Marie’s Brad Jacobs, the Northern Ontario rink picked up its third consecutive victory with a 3-0 win over Team Manitoba, skipped by Jason Gunnlaugson.
In what turned into one of the lowest scoring games in tournament history, the Jacobs rink, which includes third Marc Kennedy, second E.J. Harnden, lead Ryan Harnden, and alternate Lee Toner, used a pair of late steals to cap off the win against the previously unbeaten Manitoba rink.
The win improved Team Northern Ontario to 5-2 through six days at the 10-day event.
The result was also the first shutout at the Brier since 1998 and just the seventh in tournament history.
The low-scoring game began with Jacobs blanking the opening three ends before picking up a single in the fourth.
Gunnlaugson then proceeded to blank three consecutive ends, sending the game into the eighth end with Jacobs continuing to lead 1-0.
The Northern Ontario rink then capped off the victory with steals of one each in the final two ends.
Jacobs will wrap up round robin action Thursday morning at 10:30 a.m. (eastern time) against Team Wild Card3, being skipped this week by Wayne Middaugh.
Middaugh is filling in for Glenn Howard, who is with the team as an alternate, but not playing due to injury.
In other Pool A action on Wednesday afternoon, Team Wild Card3 beat Team New Brunswick, skipped by James Grattan, 7-6 in an extra end.
Team British Columbia, skipped by Steve Laycock, beat Team Northwest Territories, skipped by Gregory Skauge 10-5 in nine ends.
The other Pool A game on Wednesday saw Team Alberta, skipped by Brendan Bottcher, beat Team Wild Card1, skipped by Mike McEwen, 9-3 in eight ends.
Pool A standings following action on Wednesday are:
- Team Manitoba (Jason Gunnlaugson): 5-1
- Team Wild Card3 (Glenn Howard): 5-1
- Team Northern Ontario (Brad Jacobs): 5-2
- Team Alberta (Brendan Bottcher): 4-2
- Team New Brunswick (James Grattan): 4-3
- Team Wild Card1 (Mike McEwen): 2-4
- Team British Columbia (Steve Laycock): 2-4
- Team Northwest Territories (Gregory Skauge): 1-5
- Team Yukon (Dustin Mikkelsen): 0-6
Pool B saw a pair of draws on Wednesday.
In the morning draw, Team Canada, skipped by Brad Gushue, used a pair of late steals to seal an 8-4 win over Team Prince Edward Island, skipped by Eddie MacKenzie.
Team Wild Card2, skipped by Kevin Koe, beat Team Saskatchewan, skipped by Matt Dunstone 9-2 in eight ends.
Team Quebec, skipped by Michael Fournier, beat Team Ontario, skipped by John Epping 10-7.
Team Newfoundland and Labrador, skipped by Greg Smith, beat Team Nunavut, skipped by Peter Mackey, 9-2 in eight ends.
The final draw of the day Wednesday, set for 8:30 p.m. (eastern time), was set to see four games from Pool B.
Following action on Thursday, the top four teams in each pool will advance to the Championship Pool, which begins play on Friday afternoon.
The top three teams following action on Saturday will advance to the playoff round on Sunday, with the top team earning a bye directly into the final.