The men's curling team that includes former Vikings star Jared Allen won 8-6 in a round-robin match on Monday and is tied atop the standings in the nationals in Denver.

Allen's team (2-0), skipped by Minnesota native Jason Smith, upset the team skipped by John Shuster 10-6 in its opening match Sunday night.

Shuster, whose rink won the 2018 Olympic gold medal and finished fourth at the 2022 Games, won 8-7 in extra ends on Monday.

Round-robin play continues through Thursday, with the top four teams moving on to the playoff round. Playoffs and semifinals are Friday, followed by championship finals Saturday.

The winning rink will represent the U.S. at the world championships in April in Ottawa, Canada.

Whitecaps win again

The Minnesota Whitecaps extended their winning streak to six games with a 3-2 Premier Hockey Federation victory over the host Montreal Force on Monday.

Ashleigh Brykaliu's goal at 15:01 of the first period gave the Whitecaps a 2-1 lead and Denisa Krizova's goal with 3 minutes, 2 seconds left in the second period made it 3-1.

Amanda Leveille had 27 saves for the Whitecaps.

The Whitecaps, who have won eight of their past nine games, are idle until Feb. 18 when the play host to the Buffalo Beauts in the first of a two-game series.

Joel Rippel