Rough week for college hockey's best teams: 5-8-3

This was a tough week for the nation's rated hockey teams. Two had off weeks, St. Cloud State and North Dakota. One of them, Minnesota State Mankato, swept an opponent. The other seven won three games between them.

Here is a look at how the top 10 fared:

1. Quinnipiac. Lost 2-1 to St. Lawrence on Friday, ending a 21-game (18-0-3) unbeaten streak. Went zero-for-5 on power play. Beat Clarkson 2-1 on Saturday.

2. Gophers. Best Wisconsin 3-2 on Friday at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. Lost to Badgers 3-2 on Sunday at Solder Field in Chicago.

3. Miami. Beat Notre Dame 3-1, lost to Irish 3-2 in first game of Hockey City Classic at Soldier Field on Sunday.

4. Boston College. Lost to Merrimack 2-1 in overtime, tied New Hampshire 4-4 after OT.

5. New Hampshire. Lost to Providence 1-0 on Wednesday, tied Boston College 4-4 after OT.

7. North Dakota. Off this weekend.

8. St. Cloud State. Off this weekend.

9. Minnesota State. Swept Michigan Tech 4-2 and 6-1.

10. Yale. Lost to Union 4-2 and to RPI 4-1.

What all this mean is, there probably won't be drastic changes in the top 10. Hard to move anybody up or down to much if everyone is struggling.

Wisconsin coach Mike Eaves said playing outdoors on Sunday versus the Gophers affected the Badgers: "It simplified our game."

Whatever UW did in the second period, when they scored three goals, certainly worked. "In the second period we threw literally everything we had on him [Gophers goalie Adam Wilcox]," Badgers defenseman John Ramage said. "That was our plan."

"The defense helped me see very puck," Badgers goalie Joel Rumpel said. "And they cleared every rebound."

Eaves said an outdoor game in the dog days of the second half of the season helps energize players. "It's not just another game," he said.

Gophers coach Don Lucia said that under the conditions, with the ice not being great, it was a lot easier for the Badgers to play with the lead. They took a 3-0 lead in the second period.

Defensemen scored two of Wisconsin's goal.

"Their back end played better than ours," Gophers defenseman Nate Schmidt said.

Freshman defenseman Kevin Schulze, from White Bear Lake, scored Wisconsin's first goal. Ramage got the second and junior forward Sean Little the third.