Five teams are now separated by four points at the top of the WCHA after Minnesota (with two games in hand) defeated first place St. Cloud State 4-2 Friday night in St. Cloud, Minn.

There was the same final score at Amsoil Arena as No. 11-ranked Minnesota State-Mankato rallied to beat Minnesota Duluth 4-2. The Bulldogs have lost four straight, the longest losing streak in five years. Recaps from the Duluth News Tribune here (and Clint Austin photo gallery here) and Mankato Free Press here.

Shane Frederick of the Mankato Free Press has some post-game comments here.

At Houghton, Mich., last-place Alaska Anchorage used Mankato’s script (three third-period goals) to shock Michigan Tech 5-4 to start Winter Carnival. Tech led 4-1 two minutes into the second period on a Milos Gordic goal. Anchorage, breaking a 14-game winless streak, scored three times in final 13 minutes including two from Jordan Kwas, the second with 45 seconds left. Anchorage goalie Chris Kamal was pulled six minutes into the game and Rob Gunderson finished. Tech led in shots 44-28. Anchorage won for the first time since Dec. 1. Attendance 3,542. From the Houghton Daily Mining Gazette here and Anchorage Daily News here.

At Omaha, Neb., Danny Kristo (17) scored with 8:26 left in the second period to give No. 7 North Dakota a 2-1 win over No. 14 Nebraska-Omaha. Ryan Walters (17) scored for the Red Mavs. Zane Gothberg got the win with 33 saves. North Dakota led in shots 36-34. Attendance 9,487. The teams go outside Saturday to TD Ameritrade Park. From the Grand Forks Herald here and Omaha World Herald here.

At Madison, Wis., Bemidji State’s Danny Mattson scored 6:08 into the third period for a 2-2 tie with No. 19 Wisconsin. BSU is 0-8-3 the last 11 games. Wisconsin led in shots 40-27. Attendance 8,907. From the Wisconsin State Journal here and Bemidji Pioneer here.

At St. Cloud, Minn., top-ranked Minnesota scored twice in the third period to stop No. 8 St. Cloud State 4-2 before a crowd of 5,648. The game was 1-1 after one period and 2-2 at 3:59 of the third as St. Cloud State’s Drew LeBlanc scored. The Gophers countered with goals 58 seconds apart from Erik Haula and Nate Schmidt. Minnesota led in shots 42-24. From the Minneapolis Star Tribune here and St. Cloud Times here.

At Denver, Larkin Jacobson scored for No. 9 Denver in the first period and Jordan DeGiando for Colorado College in the second period as the teams tied 1-1 in overtime in the battle for the Gold Pan. Colorado College led in shots 36-34. Attendance 6,065. From the Denver Post hereand the Colorado Springs Gazette here.

WCHA Standings and Summaries Courtesy of College Hockey Stats.net

 1 St. Cloud State   29  21 14- 6- 1 .690  70- 44   29 17-11- 1 .603  95- 69
 2 Minnesota         26  19 11- 4- 4 .684  65- 44   27 19- 4- 4 .778 102- 50
   Nebraska Omaha    26  21 12- 7- 2 .619  72- 60   29 16-11- 2 .586 101- 78
   North Dakota      26  21 10- 5- 6 .619  67- 54   29 15- 8- 6 .621  91- 72
 5 Denver            25  21 10- 6- 5 .595  65- 58   28 15- 8- 5 .625  93- 71
 6 Minnesota State   23  21 11- 9- 1 .548  62- 53   29 17- 9- 3 .638  89- 67
   Wisconsin         23  21  8- 6- 7 .548  46- 46   27 11- 9- 7 .537  60- 55
 8 Minnesota Duluth  19  21  8-10- 3 .452  55- 62   27 10-14- 3 .426  69- 79
 9 Colorado College  18  21  7-10- 4 .429  66- 72   29 10-14- 5 .431  94-100
10 Michigan Tech     14  21  5-12- 4 .333  53- 71   26  8-14- 4 .385  72- 81
11 Bemidji State     13  21  4-12- 5 .310  43- 66   27  5-16- 6 .296  55- 83
12 Alaska Anchorage  10  23  2-15- 6 .217  44- 78   27  4-16- 7 .278  55- 89

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