Tonight, the "Knightline" got a little help from its friends.

Freshman forward Brendan O'Donnell (Winnipeg, Manitoba) scored twice and junior forward Carter Rowney (Sexsmith, Alberta) added a power-play goal to help lead UND to a 5-2 win over Alaska Anchorage. It was the third straight win for the Sioux, who are now 7-7-1 overall and 5-6-0 in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA).

O'Donnell and his linemates, fellow freshmen Mark MacMillan (Penticton, British Columbia) and Michael Parks (St. Louis, Mo.), staked UND to a strong start, with both of O'Donnell's goals coming in the game's opening 10 minutes.

"They've been close over the last few games. I thought going into tonight it was important that they have some success soon," said UND Head Coach Dave Hakstol. "There's good chemistry there. I like the speed that they can play with, I like the confidence they can play with. They're producing for us, which is important for our hockey team."

While the all-freshman unit excelled in a supporting role, the Knight-Nelson-Kristo trio continued its roll.

Nelson scored two more power-play goals, giving him an NCAA-leading eight PPG this season, while Knight dished out three assists. Nelson's first goal at 9:03 of the first period - a deflection of a Nick Mattson (Fr., Chanhassen, Minn.) point shot -- gave UND a 2-0 lead. Nelson closed out UND's scoring at 10:12 of the third period, converting a centering feed from Knight.

Rowney's power-play goal midway through the second period extended the Sioux lead to 4-1 just four minutes after UAA's Scott Warner had gotten the Seawolves on the board with a power-play tally of his own.

After a rocky start to the season, UND has managed to even its overall record and climb to within one win of .500 in WCHA play.

"I like the way we did it," said Hakstol. "I thought it was typical, traditional Sioux hockey - good on special teams, played hard against a hard-nosed opponent...from Brad Eidsness stepping in and doing the job, all the way through (the lineup)."

Eidsness, a senior from Chestermere, Alberta, received his first starting nod since Oct. 21 at Wisconsin and responded by stopping 26 of 28 shots. He turned aside 11 shots in the first period and 12 in the third, helping UND kill six of seven UAA power plays on the night.

The Sioux, meanwhile, went 3-for-6 on the power play and have now gone seven for the last 17 changes, a 41-percent clip.

"Now you just turn the page," said Hakstol. "The points tomorrow are equally as critical, and it's going to be a battle tomorrow night."

The series finale takes place at 10:07 p.m. Central time.

Notes: Knight (1g, 7a) and Nelson (5g, 3a) each have eight points over the last three games ... Eidsness' win was the 53rd of his career, moving him past Toby Kvalevog and Jon Casey for sole possession of fifth all-time at UND ... Sophomore defenseman Dillon Simpson (Edmonton, Alberta) has six assists in his last six games, and senior Ben Blood (Plymouth, Minn.) has four in his last three games.

~Go Sioux ~