Planning to peak

LAS VEGAS A spot in the playoffs secured at the men’s world curling championship, Canada’s Brad Gushue says his team still has work to do to peak for them.

The defending champion downed China’s Dejia Zou 74 on Thursday to be tied for second place with Scotland’s Bruce Mouat at 8-1. Sweden’s Niklas Edin topped the standings at 9-1.

The top six teams, instead of four, make playoffs under a new format this year. The top two get byes to Saturday’s semifinals while three to six square off in the quarterfinals earlier that day.

The medal games are Sunday.

Playoff berths assured for Canada, Sweden and Scotland, they’re now jockeying for a coveted top-two finish when the preliminary round concludes Friday.

The Swedes had the evening draw off Thursday, while the Canadians and Scots had games at night.

Gushue faced Greg Persinger of the U.S. (3-6) and clashes with Edin on Friday morning before wrapping up pool play against Germany in the final draw.

Mouat beat Gushue on the first day of the championship and would thus be ranked higher in the event of a tied record.

“First, we need a little bit of help at this point, but second certainly is in our grasp if we can win out,” Gushue said. “More importantly I just want to see us continually play a little bit better and get a little bit more sharp.”