Gophers' next men's hockey opponent, Penn State, is sixth in the PairWise Ratings

GOPHERS MEN'S HOCKEY GAMEDAY

5:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Penn State • BTN, 103.5-FM, 1130-AM

Gophers update: Minnesota (21-8-1, 15-4-1 Big Ten, 46 points) dropped to No. 2 in the U.S. College Hockey Online and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls but remains No. 1 in the PairWise computer rankings after its series split at Wisconsin. … The Gophers and Penn State split a November series in Minneapolis with the Nittany Lions winning the opener 4-2 and Minnesota taking the finale 3-1. … Jimmy Snuggerud (17 goals, 23 assists, 40 points) leads the Gophers in scoring, with linemates Logan Cooley (14-24-38) and Matthew Knies (17-14-31) close behind. Jackson LaCombe (7-20-27) supplies scoring from the blue line and becomes even more important with defensemen Brock Faber and Ryan Chesley (both upper body) out for the series. Goalie Justen Close is 18-8-1 with a 2.09 goals-against average and .923 save percentage.

Nittany Lions update: Penn State (19-10-1, 9-10-1, 30 points) sits in sixth place in the Big Ten but is No. 5 in the PairWise Ratings and No. 7 in both polls. The Nittany Lions were idle last weekend and had a split at Ohio State on Feb. 3-4. They are 2-5-1 in their past eight games. Penn State is 12-4 at home. The Nittany Lions have struggled on special teams, ranking 46^th nationally on the power play (17-for-105, 16.2%) and 49^th on the penalty kill (61-for-79, 77.2%). … Kevin Wall (14-10-24), Connor MacEachern (11-11-22) and Ture Linden (7-14-21) are Penn State's top offensive threats. Goalie Liam Souliere has started 27 of 30 games, going 16-9-1 with a 2.46 GAA and .913 save percentage.