won both games and pulled their record back to even. The golden Gophers returned home and played their first non-conference games of the season, taking another set of close matches against rising Saint Louis. After a week off Minnesota–Duluth arrived in Minneapolis and the Gophers were able to just finish ahead of the Bulldogs, tying the first game before winning the second. At the end of December Minnesota played in the St. Louis Holiday Tournament. After opening with a win over Harvard, Minnesota faced the Billikens for the third time that season who were able to repay the Gophers with their 6–2 victory, leaving Minnesota as the runner-up. A day after the final Minnesota played the Czech National Team and through they lost the game 1–7 the contest was an exhibition match and did not count towards their record. .500 Hockey Minnesota began the second half of their regular season at North Dakota, taking both games to improve to 10–5–2 in the WCHA despite being held to two goals in both games. The Gophers continued their road swing against Minnesota–Duluth and lost both games, a trend that would mostly continue for the next month. After splitting two consecutive series Minnesota faced Wisconsin in mid-February with the Big Ten championship up for grabs. Despite the Gophers' bad start Wisconsin had faltered down the stretch and the two were now tied for the lead. The teams ended up tying both games to finish with identical 5–4–3 records. With only WCHA games left on their schedule Minnesota had plenty of opportunity to finish atop the conference standings but they would need help. On February 14, Minnesota was behind Denver and Michigan Tech with Wisconsin trailing by one point. The Gophers, however, had an advantage in that they still had six conference games to play while Wisconsin had four and Denver had two. Michigan Tech was far in the lead with a 15–5–2 record and six WCHA games to play, but because the conference tournament would crown two co-champions Minnesota could ensure home ice so long as they finished in the top two spots. Minnesota's played two series against bottom-feeding teams in Notre Dame and Colorado College, winning three games and tying the other. The seven points put Minnesota firmly in the 2nd spot with 33 points while Michigan Tech being 5 points ahead ensured the Huskies with the Conference title. because the two