Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor, Michigan has not been kind to Penn State hockey.

The Nittany Lions are 2-9-0 at the home of Michigan since re-igniting its Division I hockey program prior to the 2012-13 season, and its last victory at the rink came on November 21, 2014. Fortunately for Guy Gadowsky’s program, the team only had to play at the rink once last season, as the team’s second “away” game against the Wolverines was actually played at Madison Square Garden.

“It’s at the top of our minds this weekend. We haven’t had success in Yost for five years,” Gadowsky said. “That’s our No. 1 concern. We have to look at ourselves and see what we have to do to have success at Yost. We’ve played well and lost, and we’ve played very poorly and lost.”

The head coach said that he and his coaching staff discuss their team’s struggles at the rink. Penn State has lost six of its nine games at the rink by a margin of four goals or more — including a 5-1 defeat that marked then-freshman goalie Oskar Autio’s first career start.

The Wolverines jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to a dismal performance by Penn State’s defense, and Ludvig Larsson’s consolation goal wasn’t enough to ignite a comeback. The Nittany Lions, of course, bounced back to salvage a split thanks to a 5-2 victory at the World’s Most Famous Arena two nights later.

Although the team’s struggles at Yost seem like a definitive pattern, junior center Evan Barratt doesn’t perceive them that way.

“It’s definitely one of the louder places to play. For us, it’s definitely one of the more fun away rinks to play in,” Barratt said. “It’s just a coincidence, but going in this year, we have a confident group. We know how we match up against them.”

Barratt said the team will treat this weekend like any other throughout the season. He also thinks that taking the first game of the series on Friday night is a must in order to keep that “just another weekend” mentality going strong.

Michigan has one of the more prestigious hockey programs in the nation, but the team definitely suffered a few key losses during the last offseason. Star defenseman Quinn Hughes and top center Josh Norris were both first-round NHL Draft picks, but they left Mel Pearson’s squad in order to sign entry-level contracts with the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators, respectively.

The duo’s loss has been felt, as the Wolverines are 5-9-2 so far this season. Familiar faces like Jake Slaker and Will Lockwood are still with the team, but losing two of college hockey’s brightest stars from a squad that already didn’t have what it takes to qualify for the NCAA tournament was a near-critical blow.

Although Michigan’s record might not be the best, Penn State isn’t underestimating its upcoming opponent at all — especially considering the Wolverines’ good performance against a very strong Wisconsin side last weekend.

“They beat a really good Wisconsin team last week on the road, and they were actually up on them 2-0 in the first game,” Gadowsky said. “Michigan is extremely talented, and they’re doing everything they can to make sure they get back into the race and into the NCAA tournament hunt.”

The Nittany Lions and Wolverines will drop the puck on their two-game series at 8:30 p.m. on Friday. The game will be televised nationally on FOX Sports 1.