Canada's curlers perfect behind Martin

With the top spot clinched, a spotless record, and a seat in the semifinals, Kevin Martin and company found the motivation to defeat a struggling and desperate U.S. rink 7-2 Monday at the Vancouver Olympic Centre.

Martin, John Morris, Ben Hebert and Marc Kennedy clinched their eighth straight victory after stealing a point from the U.S. in both the sixth and seventh ends.  

The feisty Americans, who shuffled the deck prior to the match by replacing skip John Shuster with teammate Jason Smith, pressured the undefeated Canadian rink in the early going of the morning matchup.  

"We came out with a little bit of complacency or a lack of focus after yesterday's big win," said Martin. "But as soon as they put a scare into us, we all came around really well and didn't miss much in the last five ends.

Martin was challenged in the first end with the Americans lying two with two rocks to play. Looking to clear the board, the Canadian skip threw a takeout attempt but the rock missed, leaving the door ajar for Smith. He jumped on the opportunity, placing his final stone inside the house, leaving the U.S. lying three.

With the hammer, Martin's draw nudged close to the button, but the Americans stole a point and took the early advantage.

"It was good though to see the fire in the guys and getting upset and that was perfect. You can't breeze through these things easy and we did show a little complacency this morning," Martin said.

After trading points in following ends, Canada grabbed the lead for good in the fourth. Morris had two solid throws, first removing a U.S. guard, then sliding a draw into the back eight with Canada lying two. 

Morris, who has been strong throughout the games, agreed it was not their best effort.  

"Yeah, a little sloppy. I don't think it was our best first five ends but when you have round-robin first place wrapped up at this stage, I think that's sometimes expected," said Morris.  

Martin then threw light on his first rock, narrowly missing a corner guard and sliding the stone neatly into the front 12. With the hammer, the skip's draw sliced through a maze of granite, completing the takeout for a double and giving Canada a 3-2 lead.

Canada added a single in sixth, then sealed the match in the seventh end, stealing another point from a disappointed U.S. rink. 

Martin threw a smooth draw landing on the button and giving his team a two-stone advantage. Staring at an abundance of Canadian stones in the house, Smith threw hard with his first but caught the centre guard sending his rock out of play. Then, with the hammer, the U.S. skip's takeout attempt reached only one stone, allowing Canada to steal another point and take a 5-2 lead.

The Canadian rink added two more points in the ninth end to take the match 7-2.

In other men's action Monday, Norway defeated France 9-2, Germany edged China 7-6, and Switzerland topped Sweden 7-3.

Canada's next match is Tuesday at 2 p.m. PT versus China.

In Monday's late draw, world champion David Murdoch of Great Britain posted an 8-2 win over Germany in eight ends. With the win, Britain moved into a tie for third place with Switzerland at 5-3, while Germany finished with a 4-5 record and was eliminated.

Both Britain and Switzerland can advance to the playoffs with a win or a Sweden loss in Tuesday's final round-robin draw.

In other results, France beat Denmark 6-5 in an extra end while China humiliated the U.S. 11-5 in nine ends.