Penn State hits the road to face Notre Dame.

The Irish lead the series 19-9-5 all-time and are 17-5-1 in Compton Family Ice Arena. The teams split the last series, with the Nittany Lions winning the first game 5-2 and falling to the Fighting Irish 5-3 in the second game.

Notre Dame is 11-11-2 on the season and 5-7-2 in the Big Ten. This past weekend, they split with Ohio State on the road, losing game one 3-2 and then coming back with a 5-2 win on the following night. This was just the second conference win for the Irish in their last eight games.

Notre Dame is led by Landon Slaggert, riding a three-game point streak with 15 goals on the season, placing him second in the conference and fifth in the nation. Slaggert has six assists to go along with his goals for 21 points, six ahead of everyone else on the roster. Trevor Janicke and Patrick Moynihan are second and third in goals, each with six. Danny Nelson’s 15 points between four goals and 11 assists are good for second on the team.

The fighting Irish are averaging just 2.79 goals per game, just ahead of the Buckeyes' 2.73 goals per game at the bottom of the conference. Though they are low on the scoring side, they are holding up defensively, only allowing 2.63 goals per game, which is second in the conference and 17th in the nation.

The Irish penalty kill ranks third in the conference and 25th in the nation, successfully killing 67 of their opponents’ 82 penalties, good for 81.7 percent. Scoring 14 goals on 80 attempts for a 17.5 percent conversion rate, the Irish have the worst power-play percentage in the conference.

Notre Dame has been strong on the dot this season, winning 54.2 of their face-offs, good for third in the conference and seventh in the nation. Penn State has won 50.5 percent of their face-offs, good for fourth in the conference and 31st in the nation.

The Irish have one of the best net minders in the nation, Ryan Bischel was the goaltender of the conference last season. He has started all 24 of the teams' games this season, recording a .926 save percentage, good for second in the conference and fourth in the nation, and a 2.44 goals-against average, good for second in the conference and 20th in the nation.

The Nittany Lions are coming off of a rough series where they were shutout 5-0 and then lost again the following night 7-3.

Penn State is led by freshman Aiden Fink, who has 27 points between 12 goals and 15 assists. Fink ranks second in the Big Ten and first for freshmen. He is also 12th in the nation overall and fourth among freshmen. Five of Finks’ 12 goals hve come on the man-advantage.

Graduate transfer Jacques Bouquot has 20 points between 9 goals, four of which have been on the power play, and 11 assists for career highs in both categories. He has recorded at least one point in 11 of his last 14 games.

Head Coach Guy Gadowsky mentioned that Michigan State was playing more of the “Penn State style of hockey” than Penn State was, which Dylan Gratton described as an “Attack first mentality, shooting a lot of pucks, fast and physical, and we weren’t (against Michigan State), and we need to be. They just played better.”

Michigan State outshot the Nittany Lions 40-31 and 40-34 but Penn State still leads the conference in shots per game averaging 39.5 through 22 games.

The Nittany Lions have average 3.73 goals per game and 10.09 points per game, good for third in the conference in both categories.

The Nittany Lions look to get back in the win column tonight against the Fighting Irish.