Team Canada capitalized on a couple of mistakes to edge Scotland 6-5 at the world men's curling championship in Grand Forks, N.D., on Monday.

Kevin Martin's Edmonton rink rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat David Murdoch, who took the lead on a spectacular takeout for two points in the fourth end.

Canadian skip Kevin Martin takes a shot in Monday's 8-2 thumping of France.
(Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)

Martin replied with two in the fifth, and took advantage of misplayed shots by Murdoch to score single points in both the seventh and eighth.

First, Murdoch inadvertently tapped a Canadian rock into scoring position for a steal of one in the seventh.

Then, he missed a double takeout in the eighth that let Martin take a 5-3 lead.

"We did not panic down 3-1," Canadian third John Morris said. "We knew we have had some good second halves in the last couple of months.

"We just had to come out strong, execute and keep putting the heat on them. Eventually, we were going to get a break and it happened."

Murdoch tied it 5-5 with a double takeout for two in the ninth, but Martin had the hammer in the 10th and used it to score the winning point.

"It wasn't our best game for sure," Martin said. "They put a lot of pressure on us early in that game.

"When the other team puts pressure on you, your shots are tougher. That is the way the game works."

"We had them in a spot of bother," Murdoch noted. "We had them on the ropes quite a lot and just never finished if off, really."

Coupled with an 8-2 rout of France in the afternoon, Team Canada leads the standings at 5-0 through eight draws at the Ralph Engelstad Arena.

Martin scored two points in the first and stole three in the second from French skip Thomas Dufour, who conceded the game in six ends.

"You have to play close to 90 per cent or 85 per cent to be close to them," Dufour said. "Otherwise, it is too easy for them.

"We wanted to make a little attack on the first end. The second end was very close, and they made some brilliant shots … after that, it was was very difficult."

"That is one thing we have really worked on," Morris noted. "A couple of games earlier in the year, we lost our focus after we got up four or five points and let the teams back in it.

"We're working at really trying to keep our focus, and keep that lead going into later ends."

Andy Kapp of Germany sits second overall at 4-1, following a 5-3 loss to Australia's Hugh Millikin (3-2) in Draw 7.

"The team really played well," Kapp said. "My shots didn't come.

"We had a couple of chances, we just didn't use them. That was the game."

"It was a good game," Millikin said. "We knew we had to play well against Germany.

"They're always tough. The boys stepped it up."

Millikin later knocked off Jiri Snitil of the Czech Republic 8-5 to pull into a three-way tie for third with Norway's Thomas Ulsrud and Craig Brown of the United States.

CBC Sports is televising the semifinal (Saturday, 2 p.m. ET) and the championship final (Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET), and providing daily streaming at CBCSports.ca.

With files from the Canadian Press