Two weekends remain in the Big Ten men’s hockey regular season, and Penn State faces its toughest stretch of games this year. Before they close out at home against No. 5 Minnesota, the Nittany Lions travel to East Lansing for a date with No. 1 Michigan State with everything to play for.

“Every game now is us competing for the tournament,” Aiden Fink said. “Winning against Michigan State and Minnesota would be massive for us. It’s gonna be a big week, and I think we’re going to come prepared.”

The Spartans have all but locked up their spot in the NCAA Tournament, but the same cannot be said for their opponents. Penn State sits at No. 16 in the PairWise rankings, likely two spots behind where the team must be to secure the final at-large bid. Being on the outside looking in looms large, but the team is avoiding being hung up on the numbers and focusing on themselves

“It serves you right to really focus on your game,” head coach Guy Gadowsky said. “That’s sort of the answer for us. We’re not going to get distracted by anticipating or extrapolating numbers based on the wins and losses of other teams.”

The first series between Penn State and Michigan State was a mixed bag. Penn State lost game one 6-4 but stunned the nation with its shootout victory in game two, proving it can beat the best of the best. In winning that game, the team learned a lot about itself.

“I think the team really looked at themselves and committed to the role they had,” Gadowsky said. “The ability to buy into our identity roles has been a big factor for our recent success.”

In Penn State’s loss, Isaac Howard burned the Nittany Lions for four goals and scored the dagger on the power play late in the third period. For Penn State to succeed, it must shut down the forward who sits second in the nation in points and is among the favorites for the Hobey Baker Award, the trophy given to the best player in the NCAA.

“It’s got to be a team responsibility,” Gadowsky said when asked about the challenges of containing Howard. “You don’t have to remind players who he is, they know that. But I think we can do a better job as a unit to limit his time. He does a very good job of finding space to get shots off, and from a unit standpoint, we have to do a better job of winning that.”

Containing Howard is important, but he is far from the only threat on the Spartans’ roster. Forward Daniel Russell’s 12 goals rank among the top 15 in the Big Ten, and as a team, the Spartans are second in goals scored with 107. Trey Augustine has been equally impressive in net, as he ranks among the best in college hockey in both save percentage and goals against average.

Winning at least one game in East Lansing would go a long way toward climbing up the PairWise ladder, but that’s not the only thing at stake for Penn State. Before the NCAA Tournament lies the Big Ten Tournament, where the Nittany Lions are within striking distance of securing the coveted home-ice advantage and playing the first round at Pegula Ice Arena.

For the Nittany Lions, everything is in front of them. A sweep of the Spartans puts the team in prime position to host a conference tournament series, but a pair of losses would likely send the team to Ann Arbor or Minneapolis. The team knows the challenge of what lies ahead.

“Going into Michigan State, it’s a hard rink to play at,” Fink said. “It is loud in there, but we’re just gonna come out and play our game.”