No. 6 Penn State men’s hockey faces important challenge this weekend against Notre Dame

There are no easy, get-well weekends for Big Ten Conference hockey teams. None.

So as unranked Notre Dame visits Hockey Valley for a two-game series this weekend, Penn State, the nation’s sixth-ranked team, knows it faces a difficult and important challenge.

Notre Dame leads the all-time series, 21-8-4, including an 8-3-3 advantage at Pegula Ice Arena.

Penn State struggled against 15th-ranked Michigan State last weekend, leaving East Lansing with a loss and a tie. While the Nittany Lions played well at times, they made mistakes, took some costly penalties and came out with fewer points than they had hoped in the conference standings.

In the tight conference standings, Ohio State, Michigan State and Penn State each have 24 points. Notre Dame sits seven points back with 17 points, good for fifth place.

Nationally, Penn State’s season has produced respected and successful results. The team sits third in the PairWise Rankings that will determine the 16-team national tournament. So, it’s in a good spot.

Still, Penn State has to add W’s at some point, and this weekend seems like an important opportunity. It’s especially important with future series against three Top 10 teams — No. 8 Michigan, No. 7 Ohio State and No. 2 Minnesota — looming.

Just one of those series (Feb. 17-18 vs. Minnesota) will be played at home. Penn State has gone 11-3 at home this season and 6-3-1 on the road.

Notre Dame and Penn State always provide an interesting contrast in styles, which leads to an on-ice battle of wills. While Penn State averages a conference-best 40 shots per game, Notre Dame produces just 29.2 — last in the conference. Penn State averages 3.67 goals per game. Notre Dame 2.38.

At best, this can be a get-well weekend. If not, it might be a get-it-together weekend with big challenges ahead.

No. 6 Penn State (17-6-1, 7-6-1 Big Ten) vs. Notre Dame (10-11-3, 5-7-2)

Series: 6:30 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday

Radio/TV: GoPSUsports.com

Notable: teams split a pair of games Dec. 9-10 in South Bend. Irish goalie Ryan Bischel made a career-high 47 saves as his team won the second game of the series. The winning team in each of those games scored five goals. … Penn State leads the Big Ten in faceoff winning percentage (54.3%). … Notre Dame leads the conference in blocked shots, averaging 14.25 per game. … The series concludes Saturday with Penn State’s annual “Wear White” game.