Martin wins opening 2 games in curling

Last Updated: Wednesday, February 17, 2010 | 5:24 AM ET

CBC Sports

Kevin Martin calls out instructions to his teammates during Tuesday's opener against Norway. (Nathan Denette/Canadian Press)

Canada's Kevin Martin blew an early 5-1 lead before recovering for a 7-6 extra-end win over Norway's Thomas Ulsrud in the men's curling opener Tuesday at the Vancouver Olympic Centre.

Martin's rink, which also includes third John Morris, second Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert, defeated Germany's Andy Kapp 9-4 in the second draw on Tuesday night.

Martin never trailed in the evening match, scoring two in the first end and again in the fifth. Kapp scored a single in the eighth end but Martin took two in the ninth for the victory.

"You definitely don't want to get off to a slow start because 7-2 is the answer here," said Martin. "If you lose that third game you might be heading home.

"You don't want to lose the first game too soon but you are going to lose in this crowd because the games are way too tough."

Canada leads the standings with a 2-0 record. Martin's rink has a bye Wednesday.

Against Norway, Martin got a piece of the button with the game's final stone to seal the victory.

"You're not going to be able to keep good teams at bay for the whole game, and they came back with that three and then we got the momentum going again back to our side," said Martin.

"It's not scripted, but that's kind of what we figured it would be," he added, shrugging off the Norwegian comeback. "They're good."

It looked like a blowout was in the offing when Martin scored three in the second end and added a pair in the fourth to go up 5-1 on Ulsrud. But a botched runback jam attempt in the fifth opened the door for Ulsrud to put a triple on the board and cut his deficit to one.

"We looked at this as a bonus game and we were close to winning the jackpot, huh," said Ulsrud.

"It was a good game and I think the guys played well. It's important to get a feel for the ice and the rocks, and I have to say it was really amazing to play in front of this crowd," he added.

Martin increased his lead in the ninth, crisply removing one of Norway's two shot stones and rolling his shooter just inside the remaining Norway rock to go up 6-4.

Needing to avoid surrendering a pair to secure the win, Martin left his final shooter exposed. That allowed Ulsrud — clad, like his teammates, in a curious pair of tricoloured argyle trousers — to convert a simple hit-and-stick for two that forced the extra end.

High-pressure shot

In the 11th frame, Norway was lying a pair around the four-foot when Martin stepped into the hack to deliver the final rock. Aided by strong sweeping, his throw was pretty much perfect, settling on the bottom-right portion of the button.

"It's a win and a good win, a hard-battled win, which is important too. I'm not sure it isn't good for them too because somebody has to lose that game and it was a heck of a game. Now that will get them going in the next weeks," Martin said.

Coming through on the high-pressure shot may have been extra-sweet for Martin, considering it came against the same country that denied him an Olympic gold medal in 2002. Martin missed a draw attempt with the final stone of the final in Salt Lake City, handing the title to then Norway skip Pal Trulsen.

In other opening-draw action Tuesday, Sweden's Niklas Edin upset reigning world champion David Murdoch of Great Britain 6-4; Switzerland's Ralph Stoeckli edged Denmark's Ulrik Schmidt 6-5; and Germany's Andy Kapp beat American John Shuster 7-5.