No. 9 Penn State men’s hockey (11-5-2, 3-4-1 Big Ten) will return to the ice this weekend with a two-game series against Minnesota in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

The Nittany Lions’ first game after their winter break will begin at 9 p.m. Friday, followed by another contest at 8 p.m. Saturday. Forwards Evan Barratt and Aarne Talvitie will miss this weekend’s series as they try to win a medal at the 2019 U-20 World Junior Championship in Vancouver, but defenseman Evan Bell is finally eligible to make his collegiate debut after transferring from Merrimack.

The Golden Gophers are underachieving this season, but their international-sized rink and quality throughout the lineup means that this series won’t be a pushover at all.

The Team

Minnesota (6-7-4, 3-2-3 Big Ten) is uncharacteristically mediocre this season. Head coach Bob Motzko was brought on in March 2018, just weeks after the team missed the NCAA tournament under Don Lucia.

The Gophers began their 2018-19 campaign by losing five of six games, including a sweep at the hands of No. 3 Minnesota State. Oddly enough, they recorded three consecutive ties against Ohio State and Michigan and dropped the extra point in the conference standings all three games by conceding a goal in the Big Ten’s new 3-on-3 overtime period.

Bob Motzko’s team is middle-of-the-pack in terms of team offense and defense, but its story of the season truly is inconsistency.

Forwards

Minnesota’s offense ranks No. 32 in the country with an average of 2.76 goals per game this year.

Top-line center Rem Pitlick is pacing the forwards with 17 points in as many games played. The junior leads his team in both goals and assists so far this season and continues to produce after scoring 30-plus points in each of his first two seasons with Minnesota.

Outside of Pitlick, the Gophers haven’t found much production from the rest of their forward group. Only three other players — Tyler Sheehy, Brent Gates Jr., and Sammy Walker — have scored more than 10 points this season, and 55 percent of the team’s goals have come from Pitlick, Sheehy, Gates Jr., and sophomore Brandon McManus.

Senior forward Jack Ramsey — a Chicago Blackhawks’ prospect — hasn’t scored a single point despite playing in all 17 of Minnesota’s games. Center Tommy Novak has seven assists, but hasn’t found the back of the net himself yet, either.

Defense & Goaltending

Junior Mat Robson has cemented himself as the starting goalie this season, but Minnesota isn’t afraid to utilize senior Eric Schierhorn either.

Robson is 4-3-4 in 12 starts, posting a 2.69 goals-against average and .922 save percentage. He’s definitely received much more goal support than Schierhorn, who has a 2-4-0 record despite posting an excellent 2.10 goals-against average.

Freshman Ben Brinkman is the Golden Gophers’ top defenseman in terms of plus-minus rating — he has a +5 mark along with a goal and four assists so far this season. He plays on a defensive pairing with senior Jack Sadek, who’s tied for the defensive unit’s lead in points with eight.

Sophomore Clayton Phillips also has eight points — he plays on a defensive unit which ranks No. 26 in the nation with a collective goals-against average of 2.65.

Prediction

Mariucci Arena has been a house of horrors for Penn State, which has a 2-8 record at the home of the Gophers. The international-sized sheet of ice definitely throws off visiting teams, but I think Penn State will cope well with the challenge this weekend.

Penn State will take the first game of the series by a final score of 5-2, but the Gophers will bounce back to force a 2-2 tie on Saturday before dropping the extra point in 3-on-3 overtime.