Minnesota at Penn State Pregame notes & Line Combinations (February 21)

Who: Minnesota at Penn State

When: 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT

TV: ESPNU (John Buccigross and Blake Geoffrion)

Radio: ESPN 1500 Twin Cities (Wally Shaver and Frank Mazzocco) and Penn State Sports Network (Brian Tripp and Tim King)

SB Nation Sites: The Daily Gopher (Minnesota), Black Shoe Diaries (Penn State)

Pregame reading: Friday recaps from me (Star Tribune) and Mary (Victory Bell Rings) where we both cheated on this site. Don't tell Chris.

Minnesota goaltender Adam Wilcox was tested in the final seconds of the first period Friday night when his attempt to come out of the net and clear the puck out of the zone went to Nittany Lions forward James Robinson. He wasn't able to get his shot on net, changing the course of the game. The Gophers came out stronger in the second and third periods, eventually holding on to win 2-1.

While Wilcox had one of his easier periods in the second - not easy against a team that isn't afraid to shoot the puck from anywhere - the junior was forced to make several key stops in the third. He did so, stopping all 15 PSU shot attempts and continuing his streak of solid play during Minnesota's 7 game unbeaten streak.

"He's an all-star. He keeps us in games I think day in and day out," said Christian Isackson, who scored the tying goal Friday, about his goaltender. "He's a guy that you're lucky to have on his team and he did a fantastic job."

Wilcox wasn't the only goalie to embrace an active, aggressive style, though. Penn State goaltender PJ Musico had several times when he left the crease to deal with an errant puck. That included a moment in the third period when Musico came out to nearly the blue line to deal with the puck and another in which Leon Bristedt nearly stole it away from him.

He also didn't have a gaffe like Wilcox, according to Nittany Lions head coach Guy Gadowsky.

"Actually (Mucisco's) pretty good at it. When he first did that I sure was (panicking), but we're used to it," he said after Friday's game. "And actually I didn't think he made mistakes with the puck so actually believe it or not we're confident in him."

Close or not, Wilcox still hasn't given up a goal in college off of his aggressive style. At the very least, the two goalies are going to make for interesting viewing in Saturday's series finale. Musico once again is listed as PSU's starter.

Elsewhere, Penn State will try to focus on staying out of the box and stopping the Gopher's top power play in the nation in order to get a split and deny Don Lucia his record-tying 390^th career win as Minnesota head coach.

"I just felt we weren't committed enough. It doesn't take Scotty Bowman to figure out that (Minnesota is) pretty good on the power play," Gadowsky said.

Line Combinations:

Minnesota is going with the same lineup.

Penn State made a couple changes. David Glen returns from a one game suspension to take his place on the third line. Friday's replacement, Ricky DeRosa, moves down to the fourth line in place of Zach Saar (who is scratched. On defense, senior Peter Sweetland is in for Luke Juha Erik Autio after a late change.

University of Minnesota Golden Gophers

Forwards:

Leon Bristedt (#18) - Kyle Rau (#7) - Hudson Fasching (#24)

Sam Warning (#11) - Travis Boyd (#22) - Seth Ambroz (#17)

Taylor Cammarata (#13) - Justin Kloos (#25) - Vinni Lettieri (#19)

AJ Michaelson (#15) - Christian Isackson (#26) - Jack Glover (#3)

Scratched: Robin Hoglund (#29), Connor Reilly (#21, injured), Mitch Roegge (#27), Ryan Reilly (#9)

Defense

Brady Skjei (#2) - Ryan Collins (#6)

Mike Reilly (#5) - Jake Bischoff (#28)

Ben Marshall (#10) - Michael Brodzinski (#20)

Scratched: Steve Johnson (#4)

Goaltenders: (starter in bold)

Adam Wilcox (#32)

Nick Lehr (#34)

Penn State Nittany Lions

Forwards:

David Goodwin (#9) - Taylor Holstrom (#28) - Casey Bailey (#25)

Scott Conway (#10) - Dylan Richard (#12) - Eric Scheid (#19)

Curtis Loik (#15) - David Glen (#11) - Tommy Olczyk (#14)

James Robinson (#18)- Max Gardiner (#27) - Ricky DeRosa (#21)

Defense:

Patrick Koudys (#3) - David Thompson (#22)

Nate Jensen (#24) - Connor Varley (#2)

Luke Juha (#4) - Peter Sweetland (#6)

Goaltenders:

PJ Musico (#1)

Eamon McAdam (#34)

Matthew Skoff (#31)

Other Notes:

-A night after Minnesota captain Kyle Rau participated in his 150^th career game, fellow seniors Ben Marshall and Seth Ambroz will hit the milestone tonight. Isackson and junior defenseman Brady Skjei, meanwhile, will play in their 100^th career game.

-Penn State forward David Glen missed Friday's game due to a one-game suspension for "butt-ending" a Michigan State player last Saturday.

-Follow Nate Wells (@gopherstate) and Mary Clarke (@marycclarke) on Twitter for live updates from Pegula Arena.