Fargo, ND – The Dubuque Fighting Saints (37-18-4-0, 78 pts) fell 6-2 to the Fargo Force (36-19-3-2, 77 pts) on Saturday night.

Despite scoring first for the second-straight night in Fargo, Dubuque couldn't hold the momentum in the second period. Charlie Arend scored his 18th of the season on the power play in the opening frame to put the Saints ahead 1-0 into the first intermission, but Fargo took control in the second period.

Starting at 3:03 of the second period, Fargo scored four unanswered goals in the middle frame. Following Luke McNamara's rebound goal, Stepan Cerny put Fargo ahead for the first time just 1:07 later on the power play. Cerny scored the first of two-straight power-play goals for the Force in the period as Graham Jones scored at 12:21.

A late goal in the second from Cullen McCrate put Fargo ahead 4-1 into the final period. In the third, Dubuque cut its deficit to two with a breakaway power-play goal by Dante Josefsson-Westling for his 17th goal of the season. The goal was assisted by Ludvig Lafton and goaltender Vojtech Hambálek with 8:27 left in regulation.

Dubuque could not muster any more offense before pulling Hambálek with four minutes left and surrendering a pair of empty-net goals.

Both teams finished the night with a pair of power-play goals on six chances in the contest. The Fighting Saints allowed 42 shots on goal in Saturday's loss, with Hambálek making 36 saves on the 40 he faced after a 38-39 night on Friday.

The loss drops Dubuque back into third place in the Eastern Conference ahead of a mid-week matchup with Waterloo to open the final homestand of the regular season on Wednesday.