The Gophers stalled at No. 15 in the USCHO rankings after two weeks of climbing back up the polls. A split with unranked Michigan State ended the uptrend and also dropped the Gophers out of a first-place tie in the Big Ten standings.

Michigan swept Wisconsin to take over first place alone, with the Gophers three points behind in second place. Michigan State is in third place and Penn State in fourth. Michigan also jumped to No. 16 in the USCHO poll.

North Dakota is No. 1 in Monday's rankings and Minnesota State, Boston University, Michigan Tech and Miami round out the top five. Minnesota Duluth is No. 6.

The Gophers fell to No. 11 in the PairWise rankings, the poll based off a formula used to select the 16-team NCAA tournament field, with four games left in the regular season. They travel to Ohio State this weekend before closing out the schedule at home against Penn State March 13-14.

Complete USCHO men's poll, the top 20 results, the PairWise rankings, and Big Ten results and standings.

Thursday replay: Five unanswered goals lift Gophers over Spartans as freshman backup goaltender Nick Lehr picks up first career win in first start, read Thursday night's game story and postgame blog. Watch postgame video of Gophers freshman goaltender Nick Lehr and coach Don Lucia.

Friday replay: Michigan State shuts down Gophers' offense, spoils Lucia's chance to pass Woog as program's all-time winningest coach, read Friday night's game story and postgame blog. Watch postgame video of Gophers senior forward Kyle Rau and coach Don Lucia.