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TORONTO — Winnipeg’s Mike McEwen moved into the win column at the Players’ Championship Thursday.

The seven-time Pinty’s Grand Slam of Curling title winner improved to a 1-2 round-robin record topping city rival Jason Gunnlaugson 8-3.

Team McEwen third B.J. Neufeld said it was big to turn things around after losing both of their games to open the tournament Wednesday.

“It was a bit of a dark day for us so it’s good to get back in the win column and get some momentum going into, hopefully, the playoffs,” Neufeld said.

McEwen didn’t start with the hammer but jumped out to a 5-0 lead early pouring on the pressure to steal points in the first couple ends. Gunnlaugson (1-2) faced a mess in the first and looked to limit the damage but missed the mark with his last rock to give up three. Things turned from bad to worse in the second as Gunnlaugson conceded two more when his draw came up short.

“We were able to place our draws in really good spots and he was just a little bit off on his runbacks,” Neufeld said. “We put a lot of pressure on him. He had to make a tough draw just to give us one and in the first end, those are always the shots you don’t want to have to face. A good start by us, just placing rocks, had good draw weight right away and got us out to a big lead early.”

The Tour Challenge Tier 2 champion Gunnlaugson got into the game chipping away at the deficit with a single in three followed by steals in four and five as McEwen misfired on double attempts in both ends.

It was handshakes early though as McEwen got back on track hitting for a trio of points in the sixth.

“You can kind of get baited into some messy ends if you try and go a little bit on the aggressive side to kind of end the game,” Neufeld said. “We were just a bit off and they made some good shot and put some pressure on us but we were able to weather it a little bit and get that three-ender in six.”

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Elsewhere, Brad Gushue of St. John’s, N.L., improved to a 2-1 record following a 7-2 victory over American John Shuster (1-1). The reigning Olympic gold medallists have switched up their throwing order with Shuster at third and Tyler George skipping.

Team Gushue second Brett Gallant returned to the lineup after missing the start of the tournament while attending his grandfather’s funeral in P.E.I.

Scotland’s Bruce Mouat climbed to 2-1 following a quick 6-1 win in five ends over Brad Jacobs (1-2) of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. The Boost National champion Mouat forced Jacobs (1-2) to a single in the first and rolled out counting three in the second and stealing singles in three consecutive ends to bring out the handshakes.

Kyle Smith of Scotland also sits with a 2-1 record after stealing two in an extra end to edge reigning world champion Niklas Edin of Sweden 7-5. Edin (2-1) held the hammer in OT but faced two counters and his last rock over-curled.

The Players’ Championship features 12 of the top men’s teams and 12 of the top women’s teams in the world. Teams are split into two pools for round-robin play with the best eight overall qualifying for the weekend playoffs. The GSOC’s Bonus Cup, awarded to the season men’s and women’s champions, will also be handed out following the conclusion of the Players’ Championship.

Round-robin action continues at Mattamy Athletic Centre at 4 p.m. ET with coverage on Sportsnet and online streaming available at Sportsnet NOW (Canada) and Yare TV (international).