Miskew rink remains in hunt for playoffs at the Scotties

Emma Miskew kept herself in the fight for the playoffs while Chelsea Carey took a body blow Tuesday at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.

Miskew's Wild Card 3 rink improved to 3-3 with an easy 14-1 win over Brigitte MacPhail of Nunavut.

Carey missed on her last rock to give up a steal of three points as her Wild Card 2 team from Regina lost 9-4 to Tracy Fleury's Wild Card 1 team, which is being skipped by Selena Njegovan. The loss dropped Carey to 2-3.

With the top three teams from each of the two pools advancing to the playoffs, three loses could be the limit to remain in contention.

Miskew said she already may need help from other teams to advance.

Carey and Miskew meet Thursday night in a game that could decide one of the team's fates.

Carey said she doesn't pay attention to the standings or schedule.

"We don't look at that stuff," said the 37-year-old Winnipeg native, who won the Scotties in 2019 and 2016 skipping teams from Alberta and was third in 2014 representing Manitoba. "We're not worried about whether or not we still have a chance or how many losses we need.

"That's just not a helpful thing to be thinking about. We're just grinding it out and at the end of the week we'll take a look and see if we're in the playoffs or not."

In other afternoon games, Sarah Hill from Newfoundland and Labrador won her second game of the week with an 8-5 upset of Northern Ontario's Krista McCarville. Saskatchewan's Penny Barker used a 9-6 win over Susanne Birt of P.E.I. to improve to 3-2.

Andrea Crawford of New Brunswick leads the Pool A standings at 5-0, followed by Wild Card 1, with Njegovan skipping because Fleury continues to isolate due to COVID-19, at 4-1. Northern Ontario and Saskatchewan are 3-2 with Miskew 3-3. Carey and Newfoundland and Labrador are 2-3. P.E.I is 2-4 and Nunavut 0-6.

'We're playing really well'

Crawford, the first skip from New Brunswick to win her first five games at a Scotties, can secure a playoff spot with a win Wednesday morning against Northern Ontario.

"We feel like we're continuing to pick up our performance every game," she said. "We feel really good about where we're at."

In Tuesday's evening draw, Kerri Einarson's Team Canada improved to 6-0 with a 6-4 victory over Hailey Birnie of the Yukon. The win secures the two-time defending champion from Gimli. Man., at least a tiebreaker spot.

"Every game we're getting better and better, that's what we are striving for," said Einarson. "We're playing really well and feel comfortable."

Manitoba's Mackenzie Zacharias fell behind 6-1 after four ends and lost her second match of the day, dropping a 7-6 decision to Christina Black of Nova Scotia. She was beaten 8-6 by Kerry Galusha of the N.W.T. in the morning draw.

Einarson, the two-time defending champion from Gimli, Man., leads Pool B with a 6-0 record. The N.W.T. is 4-1, followed by Manitoba, Alberta and Nova Scotia at 3-2. Quebec is 2-3, Ontario 2-4, B.C. 1-5 and Yukon is 0-5.

With Rachel Homan representing Canada in mixed doubles at the Beijing Winter Olympics, Miskew became skip of the Wild Card 3 team from the Ottawa Curling Club.

In eight previous trips to the Scotties, Homan and Miskew never finished worse than third. The team won the Canadian championship three times, were world champions in 2017 and competed at the 2018 Olympics.

"I'm really not looking at the leaderboard," said Miskew. "We just have to go out and play our game."

'It's not fun lo lose every game'

The competition is divided into two pools of nine teams ranked by their final standing on the Canadian Team Ranking System as of Jan. 10. There will be an eight-game round robin with the top three teams in each pool advancing to an expanded Page playoff system.

Carey plays P.E.I. on Wednesday morning before her showdown with Miskew in the evening, then faces Crawford's New Brunswick rink Thursday.

Besides Carey, Miskew plays Saskatchewan on Thursday.

The 44-year-old, who is making her 15th Scotties appearance, remembers pointing out a 7-1 score to second Margot Flemming earlier in the week.

"It's not fun lo lose every game and not have close games."

Due to COVID-19 concerns the event is being stage in an empty Fort Williams Gardens without fans or media in the building. Curling Canada said Tuesday about 348 volunteers registered for the competition and another 37 junior curlers from the area will be allowed to attend the playoffs.

The Scotties champion will represent Canada at the 2022 Women's Curling Championship in Prince George, B.C., from March 19-27.