Bemidji State scores four power-play goals and wins 4-2. Minnesota scores three power-play goals and wins 3-2. Minnesota State-Mankato scores two-power play goals and wins 4-2. Alaska Anchorage manages just 10 shots on goal and loses 3-0.

The final month of the WCHA regular season had some tell-tale moments Friday. Idle St. Cloud State remained in first place, but Minnesota (still with a game in hand) is in a three-way tie for second with 28 with Nebraska-Omaha and North Dakota.

Bemidji State’s win over Minnesota Duluth left the Bulldogs with a six-game losing streak and in ninth-place with five league games to play.

Saturday’s 7:07 game at the Sanford Center will have a News Tribune live blog here.

Recaps from Friday from the News Tribune here, Bemidji Pioneer here and sports information offices at UMD here and Bemidji State photos, video interviews  and story.

Bruce Ciskie speaks here.

And, by the way, No. 1 Quinnipiac of Hamden, Conn., had a 21-game unbeaten string snapped in a 2-1 home loss to St. Lawrence. U.S. College Hockey Online has a recap here.

At Madison, Wis., No. 2-ranked Minnesota scored a goal in each period to beat No. 18 Wisconsin 3-2. Minnesota was 3-of-4 on power plays and led 43-30 in shots. Sam Warring, Nick Bjugstad (16) and Seth Ambroz scored for the Gophers. Adam Wilcox (19-4-4) had 28 saves for the win. Attendance 13,611. The teams have Saturday off before playing at 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Soldier Field in Chicago in the second half of a doubleheader (Notre Dame vs. Miami of Ohio at noon). From the Wisconsin State Journal  here and Minneapolis Star Tribune here.

At Mankato, Minn., Johnny McInnis scored a tiebreaking goal with 6:22 left in the second period as No. 9 Minnesota State-Mankato rallied to beat Michigan Tech 4-2. Alex Petan had two power-play goals for Tech, which led 1-0. Stephon Williams had 20 saves for the win. Mankato led in shots 36-22. Attendance 3,591. From the Mankato Free Press here and Houghton Daily Mining Gazette here.

At Anchorage, Alaska, sophomore Dayn Belfour earned his first win of the season while making just 10 saves as No. 16 Nebraska-Omaha stepped on Alaska Anchorage 3-0. After holding just a 1-0 lead with just more than 11 minutes to play, Omaha got some breathing room on a Brent Gwidt third-period goal. Anchorage has been shut out 6 times this season and is 1-13-3 the last 17 games. Omaha was called for just one penalty in the game and led in shots 19-10. Attendance 2,563. From the Omaha World Herald here and Anchorage Daily News here.

WCHA Standings and Summaries Courtesy of College Hockey Stats.net

 1 St. Cloud State   31  22 15- 6- 1 .705  74- 47   30 18-11- 1 .617  99- 72
 2 Minnesota         28  21 12- 5- 4 .667  71- 50   29 20- 5- 4 .759 108- 56
   North Dakota      28  22 11- 5- 6 .636  72- 56   30 16- 8- 6 .633  96- 74
   Nebraska Omaha    28  23 13- 8- 2 .609  77- 65   31 17-12- 2 .581 106- 83
 5 Minnesota State   27  23 13- 9- 1 .587  71- 56   31 19- 9- 3 .661  98- 70
 6 Denver            25  22 10- 7- 5 .568  70- 64   29 15- 9- 5 .603  98- 77
   Wisconsin         25  23  9- 7- 7 .543  51- 51   29 12-10- 7 .534  65- 60
 8 Colorado College  20  22  8-10- 4 .455  72- 77   30 11-14- 5 .450 100-105
 9 Minnesota Duluth  19  23  8-12- 3 .413  58- 71   29 10-16- 3 .397  72- 88
10 Michigan Tech     16  23  6-13- 4 .348  61- 76   29 10-15- 4 .414  88- 88
11 Bemidji State     15  23  5-13- 5 .326  49- 71   29  6-17- 6 .310  61- 88
12 Alaska Anchorage  10  25  2-17- 6 .200  45- 87   29  4-18- 7 .259  56- 98

  Minnesota          3 at Wisconsin          2       Box   
  Minnesota Duluth   2 at Bemidji State      4       Box   
  Michigan Tech      2 at Minnesota State    4       Box   
  Nebraska Omaha     3 at Alaska Anchorage   0       Box