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Brad Gushue is down to his last life at the 2026 Montana’s Brier in St. John’s, after losing a crucial matchup with Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone.
Gushue’s Team Newfoundland and Labrador lost 7-5 on Friday afternoon in the 1-2 qualifier game. A victory would have left him one win away from the championship game, while a loss means he faces Team Ontario on Friday night in a must-win game.
Speaking to reporters after the loss, Gushue stressed that victory is still possible — just much more difficult.
“Now we’re on our face and can’t afford to lose any more games,” he said. “That doesn’t mean it can’t happen. You know, Brad [Jacobs] and his team showed that it can happen last year. We’re playing well enough. Let’s just see if we can get through tonight and see what happens.”
Gushue made a pivotal mistake on his last shot while leading 5-4 in the 10th end. He was looking to place a guard just over the hog line, to choke up the middle and keep Dunstone to a single point.
But the shot came up light, failing to get over the line. Dunstone capitalized on the wiggle room left by Gushue, making a shot to score three and win the game.
“We were just trying to guard the in-turn angle raise, which is a pretty easy shot to win the game. He makes that shot 99 per cent of the time,” Gushue said. “Just underthrew it I guess…. Owe the guys a drink I guess, hogging a rock.”
Gushue scored two in the second and led 3-1 after four. Dunstone came up clutch with a pair in the fifth to tie the game.
Gushue took a one point lead in the sixth, before Dunstone tied it in the seventh. Gushue took the lead by one again in the eighth, and Dunstone blanked the ninth to carry the hammer into the final end, where he was victorious.
The usually raucous crowd of more than 6,000 fans was slightly more subdued on Friday afternoon, and the 30-year-old Dunstone said he enjoyed every moment of it.
“Ever since I found out the Brier was going to be in St. John’s, that’s the moment I wanted,” Dunstone told reporters afterwards.
“In curling, oftentimes there’s not many home and away teams, arenas, matchups, things like that. Today we had one. We were the obvious away team and yeah, [it’s] probably a moment I’ll remember for a very long time.”
Meanwhile on the next sheet over, Alberta’s Kevin Koe took down Brad Jacobs and Team Canada by a 7-4 score. Koe has gone undefeated throughout the tournament, and now moves into the 1 vs. 2 game on Saturday, vying for a spot in the finals.
Jacobs will now face Manitoba’s Braden Calvert on Friday night in another must-win game.
Dunstone and Koe will face off on Saturday, with the winner punching their ticket straight to Sunday’s final. The loser will drop down to the semifinal.
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