An off-day for Reid Carruthers at the Montana’s Brier in Kelowna, B.C., became much busier on Thursday night.

The Manitoba skip picked up the last playoff spot in Pool A when Manitoba’s Matt Dunstone edged Canada’s Brad Gushue 7-6 to earn the top seed in the nine-team group.

Gushue took the second seed and Carruthers earned the third spot thanks to a tiebreaker advantage over Northern Ontario’s John Epping. Carruthers watched the game in his coach’s room at the team hotel near Prospera Place.

“We’re just driving to top up on some groceries,” he said when reached shortly after the draw. “Because we’re staying longer now.”