With the regular season coming to a close, Penn State men’s hockey is ready to be battle-tested once more this weekend.

No. 11 Wisconsin comes to Pegula Ice Arena needing wins to solidify its postseason hopes, while the Nittany Lions can mathematically lock up their own fate with a strong showing at home.

Six teams earn automatic bids to the NCAA tournament by winning their conference tournaments, with the remaining 10 spots being decided at-large. Wisconsin currently sits 12th in the NPI, the system used to select and seed teams for the NCAA Tournament, meaning the series could be do-or-die for the Badgers’ tournament hopes.

Because of that, along with the fact that it’s a top-15 matchup, intensity has heightened surrounding the series, and it’s become noticeable inside the Penn State locker room.

“This weekend’s kind of a precursor [to the] playoffs,” defenseman Jarod Crespo said.

Head coach Guy Gadowsky also echoed the same message, saying this weekend is preparation for what lies ahead.

“What we want out of this weekend? This is a great dress rehearsal for what playoff hockey is going to be like… Wisconsin needs to win to get in. We need to win to mathematically lock it up… So that’s how the team’s approaching it,” Gadowsky said.

After a weekend where Penn State stressed the importance of getting off to a strong start, the focus heading into this series against Wisconsin is on playing the brand of hockey that has carried the Nittany Lions all season.

“Going into this weekend, it’s just manage pucks and manage our shifts, make sure we’re going hard and heavy for quick shifts. That’s what Penn State hockey is, and that’s what’s going to help us win these games.”

The two teams last met in January at the Kohl Center, where Penn State swept then-No. 5 Wisconsin in a pair of come-from-behind wins.

After falling behind early in game one, Penn State scored seven unanswered goals — including hat tricks from Dane Dowiak and Gavin McKenna — to secure a 7-2 win before completing the sweep with a 3-1 victory the following night.

Wisconsin was without top center Gavin Morrissey for that series, though, and the sophomore has since returned to the lineup.

“We’re aware of that, and he’s an excellent player, and I’m sure he’s going to play a big role,” Gadowsky said.

With Penn State also dealing with a slew of injuries, Gadowsky said the team isn’t looking too closely at what happened the last time the two teams met, instead focusing on their recent games.

The Nittany Lions have found themselves playing from behind as of late, but have repeatedly shown that they have the ability to climb back into games.

“I was very impressed, obviously, being down 3-0. We didn’t come out well at all. But boy, did they play Friday night, come back from three down, and we needed a late goal to tie it up on Saturday as well, and the guys got that,” Gadowsky said.

Still, the goal moving forward is to avoid those situations altogether.

“We keep striving for a situation where we won’t have to,” Gadowsky said.

Crespo echoed that aspect from a player’s perspective as well, saying the team discussed it in between games in South Bend.

“Something that we talked about between games this weekend was just committing to having a good start… focus on everyone’s first shift and kid of just hit the ground after that.”

With plenty on the line for both sides, the Nittany Lions know the competition will only get tougher as the postseason approaches, so they’re making this weekend’s series feel like playoff hockey.