It was the battle curling fans had been waiting all week for at the Ford World Women's Curling Championship.
Anna Hasselborg of Sweden, the 2018 Olympic Champion, and a former World Junior Champion skip against Jennifer Jones, the Olympic champion as skip of the Canadian team at the 2014 Sochi Games. This is the sixth time that Jones has played in the world championship. Her lone title came in 2008.
Both teams came into the game undefeated, The Swedes at 8-0 and the Canadians at 7-0. It would be the second game of the day for both teams.
See: Canada solid finish in big win over Korea
The nerves showed early with both skips struggling to find their draw weight and playing a cautious cat and mouse game for the first two ends.
Team Canada skip Jennifer Jones was drawing for two in the first end but came up inches short on her shot and had to settle for one.
It was Hasselborg's turn to miss in end two, with the hammer, she was heavy on her draw weight allowing Canada to steal one.
The third end saw the teams switch gears to more of a takeout game. Sweden needed to draw to the button to count two, but didn't have enough curl and ended up settling for a single.
Canada added a single in the fourth to go up 3-1.
Momentum shifted Canada's way in the fifth, with Jones throwing up a guard for her stone sitting in the four-foot. The strategy worked with Sweden wrecking and allowing Jones to steal two.
That momentum swung back Sweden's way in the sixth end. The Swedes had one on the button after eight rocks while two competing rocks were so close a measurement was called for. The call went Hasselborg's way, bringing a collective groan from the near-capacity crowd, and the Swedes to within a pair of the Canadians.
Canada took a stranglehold on the game with the hammer in the seventh. Jones had a chance to count three with a takeout of the lone Swedish stone and she made a perfect shot to put another three on the board to lead 8-3 while the enthusiastic crowd erupted in cheers.
With Canada's strategy in the eighth to keep the house clean, Sweden managed just a single and it was handshakes all around.
Final score Canada 8 Sweden 4.
"We made a couple of big shots when we needed big shots," Jones told a media scrum after the game. " And that's what the game is really all about. We still have four games to go but it's a big day to get over. We didn't have our best day yesterday so I think we came out today and played well and got some confidence going into the weekend."
Jones also heaped more praise on the noisy, enthusiastic crowd.
"The louder the better. It makes such a big difference. It gives you this energy and as Kaitlyn (Lawes Vice-skip) said it almost makes you want to make your shots more just so you can hear the crowd go crazy and we're so thankful for them. So please keep coming out and cheer for us because it's made the experience even that much more special."
Next up for Canada is Russia tomorrow at 9 a.m.
"They're a really good team and they make a lot of good shots and I hear they are playing well right now so we're going to have to play our best to beat them," Jones added.
The win leaves Team Canada alone atop the standings in the round-robin portion.
See also: Canada tops South Korea before dumping Sweden at world women's curling playdowns
The top six make the playoffs with the top two teams getting a bye.
