Alberta's Kevin Martin is all alone on top of the pack at the Tim Hortons Brier Canadian men's curling championship in Winnipeg.

The two-time Brier champion and his half-Edmonton, half-Calgary team — third John Morris, second Marc Kennedy and lead Ben Hebert — thumped Kerry Burtnyk of Manitoba 10-3 in Draw 11 play Tuesday night at the MTS Centre to post his seventh straight win.

The last time Martin opened a Brier with seven straight wins was in 1997 in Calgary, where Martin won his last Canadian championship.

"Oh, we were really pumped for this one," said Martin. "You're in Winnipeg, I love this building, and you know the crowd is going to be electric. I think that was our best game, and that's good to see. Those sweepers sure saved a few for us tonight."

Tuesday's game turned in the fifth end when Burtnyk was drawing against four Alberta counters and came up short, apparently because his rock caught some debris. The loss dropped Manitoba to 5-2.

While Alberta was keeping its unblemished record intact, defending Brier and world champ Glenn Howard of Ontario was handed his first loss, bowing 7-5 to Saskatchewan's Pat Simmons.

With the win, Saskatchewan pulled into a tie for second place with Ontario at 6-1 and holding a tiebreaker advantage.

"That was obviously our best game of the week so far," said Simmons after the win over Ontario. "We wanted to use this game as a measuring stick to see if we're ready for the weekend, and I think we are."

In other Draw 11 play, Newfoundland/Labrador's Brad Gushue kept his playoff hopes alive with a 7-6 extra-end win over B.C.'s Bob Ursel. Newfoundland/Labrador improved to 4-3, while B.C. dropped to 3-4.

Also, Prince Edward Island's Peter Gallant won his third straight, scoring three in the ninth end en route to a 10-7 win over New Brunswick's James Grattan. The Islanders moved to 3-4 while New Brunswick dipped to 2-5.

Nova Scotia's Brian Rafuse (2-5), Jean-Michel Menard (2-5), Northern Ontario's Eric Harnden (1-6) and Chad Cowan of the Yukon/Northwest Territories (1-6) all had byes in Draw 11.

Play at the the Tim Hortons Brier resumes Wednesday, with draws are scheduled for 9:30 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; curltv.com will show the morning draw, while the latter two draws will be on TSN.