KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Tonight's National Collegiate Hockey Conference tilt between North Dakota and Western Michigan looked a lot like the five meetings between the two schools last season.

In yet another hard-hitting, fast-paced affair, top-ranked North Dakota stayed in first place atop the NCHC with a 3-1 win over the Broncos tonight at Lawson Ice Arena.

The win, coupled with losses by Miami and UNO, gave UND sole possession of first place in the NCHC heading into Saturday.

“They come fast, they play hard. It's always an entertaining game, that's for sure. We have to make sure we match that, if not do more than they are,” said UND junior forward Drake Caggiula, whose second-period power-play goal proved to be the game-winner.

“They came out banging and I think we matched that. We did all the right things and got a greasy road win and that's all you can ask for.”

Caggiula's goal, UND's only power-play tally in eight tries, came on a slick backhand shot on top of the crease, putting UND up 2-0 at 12:49 of the middle frame.

“Heckuva play by Nicky Schmaltz dragging a d-man to him,” said Caggiula. “The goalie was kind of cheating down low and I just tried to get it up as quickly as I could.”

It was the lone goal in a second period in which the Broncos out-shot UND 16-6. But junior goalie Zane McIntyre was rock solid in earning his 50th career win, stopping 33 of 34 shots.

“I thought we sagged a bit in the second period in our five-on-five game but we didn't give anything up,” said UND head coach Dave Hakstol. “We made one or two plays that won the hockey game.”

One of those plays was a first-period goal by Mark MacMillan, who converted a nifty 3-on-2 passing play with linemates Tucker Poolman and Michael Parks to open the scoring at 17:27.

“Parksy made a good simple chip into the zone,” said MacMillan of his team-leading 16th goal. “Tuck made a great heads-up play – the d-man cheated over to him and he got it over to me. I just tried to get it off as quick as I could. I honestly don't even know where it went in the net. I don't think I got very good wood on it.”

UND made it a 3-0 game midway through the third period when sophomore defenseman Troy Stecher jumped into a rush and beat WMU goalie Lukas Hafner with a wrister from the slot. It was Stecher's first goal since Nov. 8.

The Broncos' Aidan Muir converted a centering pass with 33 seconds left in the third period to spoil McIntyre's shutout bid.

“They're a big, hard hitting team and they came out and played their game, but I thought we did a great job responding,” said MacMillan. “We play a good, hard team too. The biggest thing is not to get frustrated, stick to our game, get pucks in deep and forecheck.”

McIntyre agreed that discipline was – and is – key for North Dakota.

“Stay out of the box, stay out of the scrums,” said McIntyre. “The big thing is just playing our game: get pucks deep and play a simple game and stick to it for 60 minutes, or even 65 minutes if need be.”

McIntyre also backed a UND penalty-killing unit that held WMU's league-leading power play scoreless in four opportunities.

“Our team's got a short memory and I mean that in a good way,” said Hakstol. “If something doesn't go our way, it's a 'next shift' mentality. That's a pretty good trait.

“It was a hard game. There's a lot of speed, a lot of physical play to it. The power-play goal we scored in the second period was real important. As we got back to the third period, we played an outstanding third period and did a real good job right from the drop of the puck.”

The result was UND, at least temporarily, breaking the three-way logjam atop the conference standings.

“It's a good complete 60 minutes for the hockey team,” said Stecher. “We have the goal of winning two games on the road and you've got to do that by taking care of business on Friday night and we did that.”

The two teams close out their series Saturday night at 6 p.m. Central.

Notes: McIntyre, Caggiula and MacMillan were named the game's three stars … MacMillan's goal was his 13th during conference play, the most in the NCHC. It was also his 98th career point … Parks' assist gave him 30 points for the second straight season. Caggiula also hit the 30-point plateau, the first time he has done so … UND is 9-3-0 away from home this season.