By Jacob Messing

The No. 8-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers visit the stumbling No. 18 Penn State Nittany Lions this weekend as they eye third place in the Big Ten.

The conference foes split their first series in mid-October. 

Minnesota, 19-13-2, sits five points back on No. 13 Michigan — and five points up on Penn State — for the third spot in the Big Ten, which would go a long way in a tournament bid. Following back-to-back losses against a dangerous but unranked Michigan team in mid-January, the Gophers have responded by going 6-1-1 over the past eight games.

The recent streak has come on the shoulders of sophomore goaltender Mat Robson, who has started seven consecutive games, going 6-1-1 in that span. The lone loss came against top-ranked Notre Dame on January 27.

“When we’ve needed a big save, Mat’s been there to make the save,” coach Don Lucia told Randy Johnson of the Star Tribune.

Sophomore Mat Robson has played in eight series for the #Gophers this season...he's earned Big Ten weekly honors following four of them because of saves like these. #PrideOnIce pic.twitter.com/U164EvTpRQ

— Minnesota M Hockey (@GopherHockey) February 20, 2018

In his first year with the Gophers, the 21-year-old has stolen the crease from junior Eric Schierhorn and holds a 7-2-1 record on the season with a 1.53 goals against average, .945 save percentage, and two shutouts.

Robson and the Gophers will look to stay hot and end the regular season strong against Penn State’s deep offense that piles on the shots. One win will be enough to keep the Nittany Lions below them in the conference standings, but Robson will certainly be aiming for two.

Split series have been a trend for Penn State this season, as it has been on the winning end of a sweep just twice in 2017-18, dragging the Nittany Lions down to a 14-13-5 overall record.

The Nittany Lions boasted an 11-game point streak (8-0-3) from mid-November to mid-January, which peaked on January 12 with an upset of No. 6 Ohio State. Since then, they’ve stalled with a 1-6-2 record as the season has slipped further away with each passing series.

Penn State is coming off its first win since the upset with a 3-2 victory of Michigan State last Saturday. Even sitting at a game above .500, there’s a reason the Nittany Lions have maintained the No. 18 rank. They’ll need to capitalize on the Gophers woeful 4-8-1 road record and sweep them to catch them in the conference standings.

The Nittany Lions are on the tournament bubble one year after losing to eventual champion Denver in the semifinals.

“We don’t have much time to figure it out,” coach Guy Gadowsky told Colin Piatt of SB Nation. “Where we are right now is that it’s to get back the excitement and the belief in what we do.”

Gadowsky’s team has lacked consistency, but with an offense as deep as the Penn State’s if the coach can instill a hungry mindset on his team, they’ll be capable of a lot more.

Have a question or a comment for Jacob? You can find him on Twitter @JMessing23.