CALGARY, March 11, 2009 -- Ontario's Glenn Howard survived a tough test from the North here Wednesday morning at the 2009 Tim Hortons Brier, emerging bruised but with his undefeated record still intact.

Howard struggled early against Jamie Koe's NWT/Yukon team and trailed the northerners 6-3 as late as the sixth end.

But that was as close as the hard-luck Koe would get, as Howard stormed back in the game's final three ends, posting a three-ender, yielding one and then posting another three-ender to close the deal on a 9-7 Ontario victory.

"I'd call it the Polar Bear scare," Howard said afterward. "It wasn't looking good, but you just keep plugging along.

"That's the key to this team -- we never say die."

The win improved Ontario's record to 8-0 heading into what could be another tough test against Quebec here on the afternoon draw.

In other games on the morning draw, Manitoba's Jeff Stoughton snapped a two-game losing streak with a 6-5 win over Northern Ontario, BC's Sean Geall scored four in the eighth end to break open a tight game and post a 9-4 win over Nova Scotia's Mark Dacey; and Newfoundland's Brad Gushue posted a four of his own against PEI's Rod MacDonald en route to an 8-2 victory.

The win over PEI pushes Newfoundland's record to 6-2, putting them alone in third place and a game behind Manitoba at 5-3. An idle Alberta is alone in second at 7-0.

In other games on the afternoon draw, Alberta plays Northern Ontario, New Brunswick plays Newfoundland and BC plays Saskatchewan.