(CNN) The seven top Democratic presidential candidates took the debate stage Friday night just days ahead of the New Hampshire primary, a back-and-forth affair that spoke to the stakes in the 2020 nomination fight.

I watched, took notes and tweeted. Below, my take on the best and worst from the night that was.

WINNERS

* Pete Buttigieg: The former South Bend, Indiana, mayor went into the debate as the candidate with the most momentum in the race -- and nothing that happened over the two-plus hours at Saint Anselm College will change that dynamic. Buttigieg was in control most of the night, acing a question about whether he would have ordered a strike against Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani and, smartly, leaning heavily into his own military service. Buttigieg also benefited from the fact that the other six people onstage seemed barely interested in taking hard shots at him -- and sticking with them for more than a single applause line. The toughest questioning of the night came from ABC's Linsey Davis, who pressed Buttigieg on the increase in arrests of black citizens during his time as mayor. But with a brief follow-up from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, none of the other candidates pressed the case.

* Amy Klobuchar: Over and over again, Klobuchar puts in strong debate performances and winds up with little to show for it in terms of votes and polls. Well, the Minnesota senator did it again on Friday night. I thought Klobuchar had the best moment of any candidate in the debate when she used a question about Michael Bloomberg's personal wealth to talk about her hardscrabble upbringing. And her closing statement -- a paean to the need for a return to empathy -- was the best in class. Will it matter? It hasn't yet. But Klobuchar deserves credit for repeatedly putting her best foot forward.

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