GRAND FORKS, N.D. - Michigan Tech's Jacob Johnstone scored twice in the opening period, but the Huskies couldn't hold on to a pair of one-goal leads in a 4-2 loss at No. 14/15 North Dakota tonight at Ralph Engelstad Arena. The Fighting Sioux (17-11-2, 13-10-0 WCHA) earned a valuable two points in the WCHA standings and now sit three points ahead of the Huskies (13-15-3, 10-10-3).

Tech held a pair of one-goal leads early in the game thanks to a pair of tallies from Johnstone. The first came just 1:59 into the action as David Johnstone won a faceoff in the offensive zone to Alex MacLeod who skated the puck down to the goal line and fed it in front. The puck deflected off Jacob Johnstone into the net.

UND answered at the 7:34 mark on a scrum in front of goaltender Josh Robinson as Corban Knight got credit for the marker.

The hosts nearly scored a goal in the waning seconds of the period, but Robinson made a kick save that started a rush the other way. MacLeod took the puck deep into the offensive zone before feeding another nice pass to Jacob Johnstone for a 2-1 lead at the 19:52 mark of the frame.

Tech was whistled for four penalties in the second frame, and UND converted two of those power plays. The first was a nice individual play from Carter Rowney at the 1:37 mark. Rowney scored again on a rebound during a 5-on-3 after Robinson had made the initial save.

With the score 3-2 in the third, Michigan Tech had several grade A scoring chances. Milos Gordic, playing in his first game back from missing the previous two weekends with injury, hit a cross bar on the power play midway through the period.

Riley Sweeney then just missed the near post on a nice back door feed from Brett Olson with less than three minutes to play.

UND caught the Huskies pressing offensively and closed out scoring on Knight's second goal of the game with 1:37 remaining.

"It was a hard-fought battle tonight," said head coach Mel Pearson. "We had our chances and didn't convert. They cashed in on theirs. That was the difference.

"We played a good third period and gave ourselves a chance to win."

The hosts went 2-for-5 on the power play in the contest while Tech did not score on three attempts.

Despite giving up four goals, Robinson was strong in net. He made 31 saves on 35 shots. Brad Eidsness tallied 19 saves in goal for the Sioux.

The teams will wrap up their two-game series tomorrow night at 8:07 p.m. ET/7:07 p.m. CT.

Notes: Jacob Johnstone moved within one of the team lead in goals. His two tonight give him nine for the season ... Three different players had two goals apiece to account for the game's six goals ... UND has defeated the Huskies 12 straight times dating back to a neutral site meeting at the 2008 GLI.