No. 10 Penn State at No. 7 Minnesota
Drew: Both of these teams come into this series with a 1-1 record after facing two different opponents last weekend. Penn State got its shots last weekend but ran into a very strong goaltender on Friday night. The Gophers lost to Minnesota-Duluth, again, but rebounded to beat Union in a neutral-site game on Saturday. Minnesota should have a pretty big advantage at home, but I’m going to give Penn State the advantage in the Sunday afternoon game.
Paula: The Gophers are 13-4-0 all-time against Penn State, including a 7-1-0 record versus the Nittany Lions in Mariucci Arena. While Penn State has won its last three consecutive conference-opening games, the Nittany Lions were outscored 20-9 by the Golden Gophers in four regular-season contests in 2016-2017. I’m going with the odds. Friday’s game begins at 7:07 p.m., Sunday’s at 3:07 p.m., and both are televised by Fox Sports North.
Drew’s picks: Minnesota 5-3, Penn State 4-2.
Paula’s picks: Minnesota 3-2, 4-2.
Source: Pickin’ the Big Ten: Oct. 13-15 :: USCHO.com Blogs :: Big Ten Blog :: U.S. College Hockey Online