At Penn State: 5:30 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday

TV; radio: BTN both games; 1130-AM, 103.5-FM

Home ice is Gophers' big goal

Preview: This final regular-season series is all about playoff positioning. The Gophers (19-13-2, 10-10-2-1 Big Ten) are in fourth place in the Big Ten with 33 points, five ahead of Penn State (14-13-5, 7-10-5) and Wisconsin. Minnesota can clinch fourth place and home-ice advantage in the best-of-three conference quarterfinals if it gains one point this weekend. If the Gophers sweep Penn State, they would move ahead of Michigan for third place. Penn State would move ahead of the Gophers if they sweep the series. … The teams split the previous series this season in Minneapolis, with Penn State winning the opener 3-1 on Oct. 13 and the Gophers winning 6-3 two days later.

Players to watch: Gophers junior forward Brent Gates Jr. has a goal in three consecutive games and has a career-best 25 points (11 goals, 14 assists). … Junior forward Tommy Novak has six assists in his past four games. Sophomore goalie Mat Robson has allowed two or fewer goals in nine of 11 appearances this season. … Penn State junior forward Andrew Sturtz is tied for 10th nationally with 37 points (13 goals, 24 assists). The Nittany Lions also get solid contributions from sophomore forward Brandon Biro (6-20—26), junior forward Chase Berger (11-14—25) and senior defenseman Trevor Hamilton (4-21—25). Sophomore goalie Peyton Jones is 13-11-4 with a 3.00 GAA and .903 save percentage. … The Nittany Lions have one Minnesotan on their roster. Freshman defenseman Alex Stevens, a former Wayzata High School standout, has played seven games with no points.

By the numbers: Penn State ranks fourth nationally at 3.56 goals per game but is giving up 3.16 (45th nationally. The Gophers are 42nd in scoring (2.68) and 11th in goals against (2.32). … Penn State's power play is 19th (20.51 percent) and penalty kill is 14th (83.33 percent). The Gophers' power play ranks 54th (13.87), while their penalty kill is 13th (83.46). … Penn State's roster includes players from 10 states (seven from Pennsylvania), three Canadian provinces and Russia and Finland.

Randy Johnson