Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons upset Ontario's Glenn Howard 7-5 Tuesday night at the Tim Hortons Brier in Winnipeg, handing the defending champion his first loss of the tournament and leaving Alberta's Kevin Martin alone on top of the standings.

Saskatchewan skip Pat Simmons reacts to a shot during his rink's 9-8 win over Quebec in 11 ends. Later in the day he upset Ontario's Glenn Howard.
(Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

Martin improved his record to 7-0 by stealing four points in the fifth and beating Manitoba's Kerry Burtnyk 10-3 seven ends.

Saskatchewan and Ontario are tied for second at 6-1 while Manitoba is 5-2.

"That was our best game of the week so far," said Simmons, who is hoping to become the first Saskatchewan skip to win the Canadian men's curling championship since Saskatoon's Rick Folk in 1980.

"It was a big game for us. We wanted to use this game as a measuring stick to see if we are ready for the weekend. I think we are."

Howard, the defending world champion, said his team didn't play their best but gave Simmons credit for the win.

"It wasn't our best game," he said. "They played great. Pat didn't miss anything. We kept coming at him. He played it well and deserved to win."

In the other games, Brad Gushue of Newfoundland and Labrador kept his playoff hopes alive by defeating B.C.'s Bob Ursel 7-6 in an extra end. Peter Gallant of P.E.I defeated James Grattan of New Brunswick 10-7.

A partisan crowd of 7,925 at the MTS Centre were hoping Burtnyk could manage the upset in a game shown on national television. But the Winnipeg native's chances were dashed early. 

After giving up two points in the fifth end, Burtnyk was light on a draw, leaving Martin with four points.

"That was the game right there," said Martin, a two-time Brier champion and Olympic silver medallist. "Kerry will make that shot nine out of 10 times. It was one of those breaks.

"We were really pumped for this one. We're in Winnipeg and you know the crowd is going to be electric and they were."

With 11 draws completed Alberta is alone on top of the table at 7-0, followed by Ontario and Saskatchewan at 6-1. Manitoba is 5-2.

Newfoundland and Labrador is 4-3. B.C. and P.E.I are 3-4, followed by New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Quebec at 2-5. Northern Ontario and the Yukon are 1-6.

The top four teams advance to the Brier playoffs, which begin Friday.

During the afternoon games, Howard scored four points in the ninth to defeat Chad Cowan of the Yukon/N.W.T. 10-4 in nine ends. Martin had all he could handle in beating Brian Rafuse of Nova Scotia  8-6.

With files from the Canadian Press