Canada rebounds with 9-4 win over Sweden at women’s curling world championship

Team Canada: (L-R) front, Laine Peters, Jocelyn Peterman, Amy Nixon and Chelsea Carey; back, coach Charley Thomas, alternate Susan O’Connor. (Photo from Curling Canada’s official Facebook page)

SWIFT CURRENT, Sask. – Chelsea Carey just needed to clear her head.

The Canadian skip returned to her winning ways with a 9-4 victory over Sweden’s Margaretha Sigfridsson on Monday night in Draw 8 of the women’s curling world championship, hours after a disappointing loss to Russia.

Carey and her Calgary-based rink suffered its first defeat of the tournament in Draw 6, falling to Anna Sidorova of Russia 6-3. Carey said after that loss that she had slept poorly the night before and needed to nap to get into a better headspace.

“Even if you don’t win that game, you just want to bounce back and feel like you’re doing the right things,” said Carey outside her locker-room at Credit Union iPlex. “This morning wasn’t so much about the loss, it was about where I was mentally.

“That’s a big recovery even if we didn’t win just to be feeling like I’m doing the right things.”

Canada is now one of five teams with an identical 4-1 record. The Canadians face Germany (3-2) in Draw 9 on Tuesday morning and then Italy (0-5) in the afternoon. Sigfridsson, who throws lead but is Sweden’s skip, fell to 1-4 at the international event.

In the morning draw against Russia, Carey missed shots in the seventh, eighth and ninth ends as the win slipped from her grasp.

She used Monday afternoon to regroup and focus on enjoying her time on the ice.

“You have to remember to have fun and enjoy what you’re doing and throw everything to make it,” said Carey after the evening’s win. “I was in a better headspace this last game and obviously it went better.”

Sweden scored a single in the first end, but Carey replied in the second with a single to tie it 1-1. Sigfridsson’s rink answered with another point in the third with Canada coming back with an easy draw to make it 2-2.

That trend ended in the fifth end when Sweden’s fourth Maria Prytz’s hit and roll slid out of the house, giving Canada a deuce and a 4-2 lead.

Prytz recovered in the sixth end, earning a single to cut into Canada’s lead. A simple tapback by Carey to close out the seventh end re-established Canada’s two-point cushion, 5-3. Prytz got a point back in the next end, drawing just slightly closer to the button than the nearest Canadian stone.

It was clear that Carey’s restful afternoon made a difference in the ninth end.

Carey ticked a guard on the second last throw of the ninth, allowing Prytz to set up a second guard with a narrow opening between the two Swedish rocks. Carey seamlessly navigated the gap between the two guards and then hit a triple takeout for the deuce and a 7-4 lead.

The Canadian fans in attendance burst into applause as lead Laine Peters, second Jocelyn Peterman and third Amy Nixon celebrated in the house and Carey pumped her broom in the air.

“I knew it was there and it was worth a try,” said Carey. “I knew if I got through the hole with the kind of weight I was going to throw it was going to be close and so we just got through the hole and it worked out perfect.”

“It felt really good to make it. That was a big couple of points for us.”

Sweden missed a double takeout in the 10th end, giving Canada an additional two points for the final score.