The No. 1 ranked team in the country, the University of Minnesota (20-7-1), played border rivals the Wisconsin Badgers (10-18-0, No. 36 Pairwise) this weekend, a team the Gophers swept at home back in December by a 13-5 goal margin. 

The Gophers did not start game one strongly, taking an early five-minute major penalty before getting outshot 21-3 in the first period, but a great period in net from goaltender Justen Close and a late Logan Cooley goal led to them being ahead 1-0 at the break. Only one minute into period two, they made it 2-0, with Jimmy Snuggerud scoring his 17th goal and 39th point of the season.

With 11:25 remaining in the second, Bryce Brodzinski buried goal number three, leading to the Badgers goaltender Jared Moe being pulled from the game. Still leading 3-0 to start the third period, it took the Gophers barely any time to make it 4-0, with Bryce Brodzinski tallying another goal, his 14th of the season.

Wisconsin responded only 15 seconds later to bring the score to 4-1 and end Justen Close's shutout, but that would end up being the final score, with the Gophers extending their win streak against the Badgers to six games. 

Game two saw the Gophers score the opening goal in back-to-back nights, with Mike Koster scoring his third goal of the season with 1:32 remaining in the first period. However, only a minute later, the Badgers responded when Cruz Lucius scored to end the first tied at 1-1.

Halfway through the second period, Wisconsin's Daniel Laatsch scored to put the Badgers ahead for their first lead of the weekend. Shortly thereafter, a Connor Kurth goal for the Gophers was challenged and overturned due to too-many-men on the ice, keeping the score at 2-1. Only two minutes later, the Badgers scored again, officially shifting the momentum in their favor, and the Gophers never recovered, losing 3-1.

Minnesota outshot the Badgers 33-29, but Wisconsin goaltender Kyle McClellan was strong in net, saving all 14 shots faced in the third period in only his second win this season.

The Gophers will remain on the road and play Penn State next, looking for one win against the Nittany Lions to claim the Big Ten Conference championship.

The University of St. Thomas (8-18-2, No. 47 Pairwise) welcomed Northern Michigan (13-16-0, No. 43 Pairwise) to Mendota Heights for a two-game series, marking the first meeting for these two CCHA teams this season.

The Wildcats kicked off the scoring nine minutes into period one on Friday night, with Vincent de Mey catching a pass in the neutral zone and then splitting the Tommie defensemen before scoring on goaltender Aaron Trotter.

That 1-0 score remained until the final minutes of period two when Artem Shlaine found Vincent de May streaking into the offensive zone for a shorthanded goal, putting the Wildcats up 2-0. Only a minute and change later, the Wildcats made it 3-0, with Andre Ghantous scoring off a rebound for his sixth goal and 25th point this season.

Down 3-0 after two, the Tommies made a goaltender change, but it did not create the spark they were looking for, losing 3-0 and marking their first home shutout loss of the season. 

In game two on Saturday, the Tommies did not allow their scoreless streak to extend to four periods, as Apple Valley native Josh Eernisse scored off a Jake Braccini rebound with 4:44 remaining in period one.

Exactly 21 minutes later, the Tommies made it 2-0, with Eernisse scoring back-to-back goals to hit the 14-goal mark this season. Northern Michigan's Joey Larson broke the's shutout with 38 seconds remaining in period two, heading into the final period with the Tommies leading 2-1.

With 9:16 remaining in the game, the Wildcats tied it at 2-2, but the Tommies prevailed late, with Roseville native Ryan O'Neill ending his 23-game goalless drought and scoring a beautiful top-shelf finish with 2:04 left in regulation.

With only seconds remaining, Mack Byers scored an empty net goal to seal the 4-2 win, scoring his team-leading 15th goal of the season. Goaltender Aaron Trotter was back in net after getting pulled in Friday's game, saving 21 of 23 shots faced for his ninth win of the season. 

Coming off three straight losses, Bemidji State (11-12-5, No. 30 Pairwise) traveled to Michigan this weekend to battle the Ferris State Bulldogs (11-13-4, No. 33 Pairwise), a team that the Beavers went 1-0-1 against in their previous series in November.

Period one on Friday night almost went scoreless before a Ross Armour goal with 29 seconds remaining put the Beavers ahead 1-0 heading into the first intermission. However, less than a minute into the second, the Bulldogs tied it at 1-1 off a goal from Jason Brancheau, with Brancheau scoring his team-leading 11th goal of the season.

That 1-1 score held through the second intermission, with the Bulldogs scoring a shorthanded goal 2:16 into the third. The Beavers responded halfway through the period to tie it back up, with Ross Armour scoring similarly to his earlier goal in the game, tallying his team-leading 11th goal this season.

All knotted up at two with overtime on the horizon, the Bulldogs' Mitch Deelstra found himself on a breakaway and scored, putting away the game-winning goal with only 45 seconds left in regulation. Both goaltenders made 27 saves in the game, with Bemidji State's Mattias Sholl moving to a record of 8-9-5 on the season with the loss. 

Game two of the series saw the Beavers jump out to an early lead when Lleyton Roed scored 4:55 in on the power play, scoring his third goal in the last five games. With 1:41 remaining in the period, the Beavers made it 2-0 when defenseman Elias Rosén ripped home the puck from the top of the slot. The Bulldogs responded and made it 2-1 a few minutes into period two when Travis Shoudy recorded his first goal this season.

With the score holding at 2-1 with five minutes to go in period two, the Beavers went on a scoring tear, tallying three consecutive goals in a span of only 1:36. Jackson Jutting started the scoring on the power play before Alexander Lundman, and then Kaden Pickering added goals four and five, heading into the final period ahead 5-1.

With a goal and an assist, plus a game-high five shots in the win over the Bulldogs, Roed was named CCHA Rookie of the Week for the fifth time this season. 

In the third, the Bulldogs made it 5-2 on a power play goal 5:18 into the period, but there would be no miraculous comeback, with the Beavers adding a last-minute goal to split the series and win 6-2. Sitting in fourth place in the CCHA standings post the weekend.

The Beavers will return home to play against Minnesota State, the current second-place team in the standings. 

St. Cloud State (18-8-2, No. 7 Pairwise) – the Huskies were on the bye this weekend after previously tying Miami (OH) University in back-to-back games last weekend. They will next head to Grand Forks, ND, to play the University of North Dakota (12-13-4, No. 22 Pairwise).  

University of Minnesota-Duluth (12-15-1, No. 24 Pairwise) – after getting swept at home by Western Michigan last weekend, the Bulldogs will hope to have a better showing when they travel to Colorado to battle the Denver Pioneers (23-7-0, No. 5 Pairwise) after their bye..  

Minnesota State Mankato (19-10-1, No. 13 Pairwise) – skating to a split against St. Thomas last weekend, the Mavericks had their final bye before heading up to Bemidji next weekend to play the Beavers.