"It's a great feeling," vice skip Bill Todhunter said after the team's sixth straight victory.

Team USA will face Canada (9-1) in the playoff game at 7:30 p.m. MT Friday. The winner of that game moves on to Sunday's final while the losing team will wait to play the winner of the Page 3-4 game in Saturday's semifinal. Those teams, however, still are undetermined with one draw remaining in the round robin. Switzerland (7-4), France (6-4) and Germany (6-4) are still in contention for the two remaining spots. Finland and Sweden with 5-5 records are on the respirator hoping for a tiebreaker game.

"Obviously, we wanted to get into the final," Birr said. "We now have two chances to win the gold."

The U.S. men have not won a medal at the World Championships since 1993 when both semifinal losers received the bronze medal. The last time a U.S. team won the bronze outright was in 1986, the same year USA Curling Athlete Development Director Ed Lukowich won gold.

"It was a good game," Birr said. "We played the game exactly the way we wanted to. We just played really well and executed our game plan."

The Edmonton winter that won't go away mixed with the frosty stare of Birr to dampen the Swedish bid for a playoff berth as the Americans pushed the three-time world champion Lindholm to the edge of playoff elimination.

Birr (Mankato, Minn.) and teammates Bill Todhunter (Menasha, Wis.), Greg Johnson (Appleton, Wis.) and Kevin Birr (St. Peter, Minn.) started off shaky in the first end much like in their morning game against Korea. The Americans got into a bit of a jam after Birr attempted to freeze to Lindholm's stone frozen on the other U.S. rock in the four foot but his rock didn't curl and slid out the back of the house. Lindholm froze another Swedish rock into the pot and stole a single when Birr couldn't remove both.

In the third end, Birr got his first stone buried behind a corner guard with Lindholm following him in but leaving it hanging enough for Birr to chip it out for two to take an early 2-1 lead.

After blanking the fourth end, Lindholm was forced to draw for one after the Americans got a rock ahead of the Swedes and Birr made a great hit and roll. The Swedes went full throttle after the break, putting up two guards but the U.S. got a stone buried behind the center guard in scoring position. Birr drew behind it with his first throw in the back of the eight foot for second count. Lindholm made a perfect draw to the button, but by the narrowest of margins, Birr squeaked out the deuce.

The U.S. got into trouble in the seventh after Todhunter's attempt to remove a Swedish stone jammed and removed the two U.S. shots rocks around the button. Sweden brought a third stone into the house. After Birr removed it, Lindholm rolled out after making the hit. Birr removed the other Swedish stone in the backside of the 12 foot. Lindholm came heavy with his draw and only grabbed the single.

"We wanted to keep it simple, pick our spots," Birr said. "We don't mind playing the corner guard game. Against a team like Canada, we don't want to draw against them because then they'll get you for three or four."

In the eighth end, there lots of rocks in play once again. Lindholm made a perfect freeze to the U.S. stone in the four foot. Birr came down and tried to gently tap back the Swedish stone but left Sweden still in scoring position. Lindholm guarded his shot but Birr came around the other side and nestled in for one to take a 5-3 lead going into the ninth end. The U.S. got two rocks in the house early with two Swedish stones frozen on top. Todhunter removed one of each leaving the U.S. shot rock in place. Lindholm tapped the U.S. rock out to lie two. Birr and Lindholm exchanged hits on the stone closest to the button with Lindholm eventually making the hit and stick for two to tie the game heading into the final end.

The U.S. kept the house clean for Birr in the 10th end with his game-winning shot a wide open takeout.

The American win over Canada's Glenn Howard team last night helped bolster the U.S. team confidence to continue its win streak through the end of the round robin. "You don't suppose they forgot about last night, do ya?" Birr said and laughed.

The last time the U.S. met Canada in the playoffs was back in 2002 in Bismarck, N.D., with Team USA's coach Paul Pustovar in the skip's position. The Americans also faced Canada in the semifinals at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games with Canada getting the better of the Americans both times.

Overall, the U.S. men have won four gold, five silver and 10 bronze medals in the championship's 48-year history.

Live and on-demand video streaming from the Men's World Curling Championship is available through a partnership between USA Curling, the World Curling Federation, NBCSports.com and MediaZone. More details can be found at www.usacurl.org.

College Sports TV (CSTV) will air highlights from the Women's Worlds on April 19 at 9 p.m. ET and from the Men's Worlds on April 26 at 9 p.m. ET.
Game scores: USA 6, Sweden 5; Canada 8, Australia 3; Switzerland 7, Finland 4; Denmark 9, Norway 5

USA line score:
SWE 100 010 102 0 5
*USA 002 002 020 1 6
*designates last-rock advantage in first end

Round robin standings
*Canada 9-1
*USA 8-3
Switzerland 7-4
France 6-4
Germany 6-4
Finland 5-5
Sweden 5-5
Scotland 4-6
Australia 4-7
Norway 4-7
Denmark 3-7
Korea 1-9
*clinched berths in 1-2 Page Playoff game

USA Curling is sponsored by AIT Worldwide Logistics, AmerAust Technologies and Nike as well as by AT&T, General Motors, The Home Depot, and Bank of America through a joint marketing program with the U.S. Olympic Committee.

For more information: Terry Luder, USA Curling, terry.luder@usacurl.org, 608-338-9900 (cell).