Gophers men’s hockey series preview vs. Penn State: Broadcast info, analysis

Best-of-three Big Ten quarterfinal series vs. Penn State: 6 p.m. Friday, 3:30 p.m. Saturday, 6 p.m. Sunday (if necessary) at 3M Arena at Mariucci

TV, Radio: Fox Sports 2, 103.5-FM each night

Stream: Fox Sports app

Opening bell: The third-seeded Gophers (20-9-5, 13-7-4 Big Ten) and sixth-seeded Penn State (15-16-3, 7-14-3) meet for the second time in a month, after Minnesota swept the Nittany Lions 3-0, 3-0 Feb. 9-10. The Gophers have been hot at home in the second half, going 8-1 in their final nine games. The lone blemish was last Saturday’s 6-5 overtime loss to Michigan in which Minnesota scored five third-period goals. … Since Jan. 12, Penn State is 5-9 in Big Ten play, with four of those wins coming in two sweeps of last-place Ohio State. ... Minnesota is 3-1 against Penn State this season, outscoring the Nittany Lions 13-7.

Watch them: Gophers senior center Jaxon Nelson has six goals and 10 assists in his postseason career. … Freshman forward Aiden Fink leads the Nittany Lions in scoring with 15 goals and 18 assists and has eight power-play tallies, but he’s on a six-game drought with no goals and only one point.

Pregame reading: Gophers center Nelson aims for bountiful postseason harvest.

Forecast: Whichever team’s penalty kill shows up will have an edge. The Gophers rank 39th nationally on the kill at 78.75% (63-for-80), while Penn State is 50th at 76.47% (78-for-102). Minnesota usually stays out of the penalty box, averaging a nation’s-fewest 6.5 penalty minutes per game. … A strong second half has the Gophers poised to take their first step toward honing their game for a deep playoff run.

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