Alberta's Kevin Martin is headed to the championship game at the Tim Hortons Brier Canadian men's curling championship in Winnipeg.

Martin, backed up by third John Morris, second Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert, turned back Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons 8-7 Friday night at the MTS Centre in the Page playoff one-two game.

Alberta trailed 6-3 through five ends when Saskatchewan stole deuces in the first and fifth ends.

But Alberta fought back with a deuce in the eighth and stole single points in the ninth and 10th ends for the win. Simmons had an open hit to record the victory, but his last rock caught some debris.

"I feel bad for Pat," said Martin. "They deserved to win that game. We put the last one in a good spot, but he threw that plenty good enough to win. That's the way it is. We played like dogs, we made nothing in the first five ends. But the last five, we came back and put the heat on them."

Martin will be seeking his third Brier title, while his teammates will be looking for their first.

The win advances Alberta to the 6:30 p.m. (all times Eastern) final on CBC.

Saskatchewan, meanwhile, will play in the semifinal Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on CBC against reigning Brier and world champion Glenn Howard of Ontario.

The Brier winner will represent Canada at the world men's curling championship, April 5 to 13 in Grand Forks, N.D.