Minnesota Duluth, Wisconsin and Minnesota remained on hot streaks Friday night in and out of league play. The Gophers have ascended to first place in the WCHA with two points separating the top six teams (although four teams have games in hand over UMD).

A 3-2 win at Colorado College gives UMD its first three-game win streak of the season. The Bulldogs have won five straight in the league (including four straight one-goal victories), are 8-2-1 the last 11 in the league and 7-3-1 the last 11 overall. Wisconsin has won seven straight and is 8-0-3 the last 11 games. Minnesota has won six straight, is 8-0-1 the last nine games and 12-1-3 the last 16.

The Bulldogs (10-10-3 and 8-6-3) are tied with North Dakota for fifth in the WCHA and are at .500 for the first time since Oct. 19. Colorado College is 2-11-2 the last 15 games overall.

UMD game recaps from the News Tribune here and Colorado Springs Gazette here.

U.S. College Hockey Online has a Joe Paisley UMD-CC recap here.

Bruce Ciskie looks at UMD’s WCHA climb here.

At Houghton, Mich., Blake Pietila had two goals and an assist as Michigan Tech shut down Bemidji State 4-0. Winning goalie Pheonix Copley had 25 saves. Tech led in shots 32-25. Attendance 2,590. From the Bemidji Pioneer here and Houghton Daily Mining Gazette here.

At Minneapolis, in the league’s marquee game, No. 1-ranked Minnesota scored three third-period goals to pull away from No. 5 North Dakota 5-1. A crowd of 10,318 on hand at Mariucci Arena. It was 0-0 after one period and Michael Parks gave North Dakota a 1-0 lead in the second. Minnesota’s Nate Condo had a goal (shorthanded) and two assists, and Erik Haula returned from an injury for a goal and an assist. Freshman goalie Adam Wilcox (16-2-3) made 24 saves. Minnesota led in shots 27-25. From the St. Paul Pioneer Press here, Minneapolis Star Tribune here and Grand Forks Herald here.

At St. Cloud, Minn., Nick Jensen’s two third-period goals propelled No. 19 St. Cloud State to a 5-2 win over No. 7 Denver. It was 0-0 after one period and Denver led 1-0 in the second on a Zac Larraza goal. It was 2-2 after two before the Huskies pulled away. St. Cloud State goalie Ryan Faragher had 23 saves. Attendance 4,275. From the St. Cloud Times here and Denver Post here.

At Madison, Wis., Joseph Labate scored with 8:28 to play for the game’s only goal as Wisconsin stopped No. 8 Miami of Ohio 1-0 in a nonleague match up. There was one minor penalty per team. Winning goalie Joel Rumpel made 26 saves. Miami is second in the CCHA. Miami led in shots 26-20. Attendance 9,280. From the Wisconsin State Journal here.

At Anchorage, Alaska, a third-period rally gave Alaska Anchorage a 3-3 overtime time with No. 14 Minnesota State-Mankato. The Purple Mavs led 2-0 in the first period and 3-1 in the second before Anchorage came back. Goals were 40 seconds apart: Blake Tatchell (with 3:11 left in the third period) and Bobby Murphy (with 2:31 left) tied it for the Seawolves. Anchorage goalie Chris Kamal had 19 saves. Anchorage is 0-8-1 the last nine games. Attendance 2,240. From the Mankato Free Press here and Anchorage Daily News here.

WCHA Standings and Summaries Courtesy of College Hockey Stats.net

 1 Minnesota         21  15  9- 3- 3 .700  52- 35   23 17- 3- 3 .804  89- 41
 2 St. Cloud State   20  15 10- 5- 0 .667  50- 35   23 13-10- 0 .565  75- 60
   Nebraska Omaha    20  16  9- 5- 2 .625  59- 49   24 13- 9- 2 .583  88- 67
   Denver            20  17  8- 5- 4 .588  56- 49   24 13- 7- 4 .625  84- 62
 5 North Dakota      19  15  8- 4- 3 .633  53- 42   23 13- 7- 3 .630  77- 60
   Minnesota Duluth  19  17  8- 6- 3 .559  49- 46   23 10-10- 3 .500  63- 63
 7 Wisconsin         17  16  6- 5- 5 .531  35- 36   21  9- 7- 5 .548  48- 43
   Minnesota State   17  17  8- 8- 1 .500  51- 46   25 14- 8- 3 .620  78- 60
 9 Colorado College  13  17  6-10- 1 .382  55- 65   25  9-14- 2 .400  83- 93
10 Bemidji State     11  15  4- 8- 3 .367  34- 47   21  5-12- 4 .333  46- 64
   Michigan Tech     11  17  4-10- 3 .324  42- 59   22  7-12- 3 .386  61- 69
12 Alaska Anchorage   6  17  1-12- 4 .176  31- 58   21  3-13- 5 .262  42- 69

  Bemidji State      0 at Michigan Tech      4       Box   
  North Dakota       1 at Minnesota          5       Box   
  Denver             2 at St. Cloud State    5       Box   
  Miami              0 at Wisconsin          1       Box   
  Minnesota Duluth   3 at Colorado College   2       Box   
  Minnesota State    3 at Alaska Anchorage   3, tie  Box