Penn State hockey ready to restart — and conclude — its regular season with Notre Dame

What’s a hockey team without games? Antsy. Bored. Concerned. And that’s just the first three letters of the alphabet.

Penn State’s once-surging hockey team was all those things and more, going through the entire alphabet for sure, the past 35 days. That’s how long it’s been since the Nittany Lions last played.

The team returns to action Friday with the start of a two-game series at Notre Dame. After the delayed and unusual start to the season, the latest time of limbo another unexpected challenge.

“I’m not so sure there is a blueprint for this one,” Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky said in a pregame video on the team’s social media channels. He also said he was relieved for the team to be back in action. “I know a lot of guys have a lot of work to try to get back to the form they had before our pause, but we’re grateful for the opportunity to try and do that.”

Practice time was limited during the team’s hiatus, and who was allowed in Pegula Ice Arena was based on who was virus free. As a result, lineups this weekend might be altered from the norm and the team’s conditioning might be tested a bit.

Penn State both restarts and concludes its regular season the next two nights.

For a group that invariably focuses on itself and what it can control, the series provides an important, albeit small, sample size to get things in order before the Big Ten Tournament, which begins March 14 at Notre Dame. The conference tournament represents Penn State’s only chance to qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Penn State, which sits fifth in the seven-team Big Ten standings, has played the fewest games in the conference, 18, and is tied with Ohio State (20 points) in the standings. Neither team can overtake fourth-place Michigan (29) entering the season’s final weekend.

Unranked Notre Dame (35) sits third in the conference standings, behind No. 3 Minnesota (45) and just before No. 7 Michigan (29).

Neither Notre Dame nor Michigan seems likely to move in the standings while the championship race between No. 5 Wisconsin (46) and Minnesota (45) remains undecided. Wisconsin plays at last-place Michigan State this weekend while Minnesota hosts Michigan.

Notre Dame goalie Dylan St. Cyr was named the Big Ten’s Second Star of the Week for his back-to-back shutouts last weekend against Michigan State. He boasts a .919 save percentage with a 2.38 goals-against average.

Along with him, special teams have been important for Notre Dame the recent weeks. In the final game against MSU, the Irish converted two of four power-play chances and held the Spartans scoreless on three opportunities, including five-minute major to start the third period.

Penn State (9-9-0, 7-9-0 Big Ten) at Notre Dame (12-12-2, 9-10-2)

Series: 7:30 p.m. Friday, 5:30 p.m. Saturday

Radio/TV: 103.1 FM and GoPSUsports.com, NBC Sports Network (Friday)

Notable: Notre Dame leads the all-time series, 11-6-3. … Penn State has had its last four series, eight games, canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Nittany Lions last played Jan. 29, when they dropped a 3-2 overtime decision to Notre Dame at home, splitting a two-game series. … Notre Dame swept Michigan State on the road last weekend by identical 2-0 scores.