Michigan State came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Michigan 3-2 thanks to 2 goals and an assist from defenseman Torey Krug. Krug was outstanding in this game. He's without a doubt an all-CCHA defenseman, and a case could be made for him being an all-American. Also of note, MSU held a skills competition this past week, and Krug put up some crazy numbers in the hardest shot competition. He's got tremendous power for such a small player.
Both of the nationally televised WCHA games drew some attention, and not for good reasons. North Dakota won the game 3-1, while Duluth picked up two major penalties in the game. The first one looked pretty legit as Joe Basaraba flung a North Dakota player pretty dangerously into the boards. I didn't see the second, a hit from behind by JT Brown, but all reports were that that one was even worse.
Meanwhile, a 5-3 Denver win was marred by a pretty ugly hit by Kyle Rau that knocked Jason Zucker out of the game. It's up for debate if Rau caught him too high or too late. He probably did, but I don't know if that hit requires any supplemental discipline.
I hate to say it, but my first two thoughts after watching that live were: I;m very glad Zucker is moving his limbs, and I'm glad Zucker is no longer moving his mouth. This is basically the 2011 World Juniors all over again for Zucker, where Zucker took a cheap shot from a Slovakian player because he couldn't keep his mouth shut and was worthless to his team the rest of the tournament because of it. If Zucker wants to act like that out on the ice, he's going to continue to pay the price for it. If 5'7" guys like Rau are doing that to Zucker now, he's in for a lot of trouble when he gets to the next level.
Bemidji had a very nice 3-2 win over Colorado College on their home ice. Bemidji was able to take a one goal midway through the third period and then gave CC absolutely nothing in the final ten minutes. The Tigers didn't even come close to threatening.
Western Michigan beat Ohio State in overtime. The Buckeyes were once the leaders in the CCHA, but have gone winless in 11 tries since the start of the new year, and now sit in a threeway for 6th in the CCHA, but with the most games played of the three, so essentially in 8th.
Lake Superior beat Alaska in Fairbanks by a score of 4-2. The win jumped LSSU from 8th place in the CCHA all the way up to a tie for third with Michigan and Michigan State. It's been that kind of year in the CCHA.