Michigan hockey has had long-standing rivalries with Michigan State, Minnesota and even Ohio State, but over the past three years, no school has irked the Wolverines more than Penn State.

The Nittany Lions are only in their fourth year a varsity program and third year in the Big Ten, yet they have been a thorn in U-M's side, going 6-3-0 against Michigan. The Maize and Blue's .333 winning percentage against PSU represents their worst performance against any of the Big Ten's five teams since the league's inception in 2013-14.

"In terms of our entire school, Ohio State is a big rival because of football, and Michigan State is up there for a lot of sports, but for hockey, Penn State has become a really big one for us," junior defenseman Nolan De Jong said. "They have been a challenge.

"I think they just play a pretty scrappy, in-your-face style. They throw everything at the net, and I think two years ago we maybe took them a little too lightly and wasn’t expecting them to play with such an aggressive mentality. I think they surprised us with the sense of desperation they played with on every shift.

"And then last year, I think we were ready for their brand of hockey and we had some good wins but they were a good team with a lot of confidence. All of our games were close and they came out on top a couple times more than we would have liked."

Michigan has had its greatest success against Ohio State since the start of the Big Ten in 2013-14, posting an .800 winning percentage while the Wolverines have also had success against Michigan State and Wisconsin (see chart) but have struggled against the Golden Gophers and Nittany Lions.

It is Penn State that really frustrates the players and coaches, and fans, because of the perceived weakness of a program just a few years into its varsity career.

Michigan’s short history with Penn State could be described in one word: inglorious. Penn State earned its first Big Ten victory over the Maize and Blue on Feb. 8, 2014, entering the game 0-9-0 in conference play previously.

Adding insult to injury, Michigan was knocked out of the inaugural Big Ten Tournament with a first-round 3-2 loss to the Blue and White on March 7, 2014, and in both the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons, the Wolverines fell one win shy of making NCAAs, the two losses to PSU in 2013-14 and the three on 2014-15 pointed to by many as the difference between inclusion and exclusion.

"They’re the team that our team has more trouble with and I don't think anyone has a good answer on why that is," head coach Red Berenson said.

"I think the first time we ever played them there, we won 7-3 and the next night they came back and turned the game around, and that was their first ever Big Ten victory, and you could sense the confidence and momentum it gave them.

"I don’t think it’s any coincidence that they got their first Big Ten win against us and have since played us really hard – that gave them some confidence that they have used in every game against us since.

"But we’re not alone. It’s not like they’ve been finishing dead last the past two years. They’re right there this season in the Big Ten race. So there’s not much to choose between the two teams."

Michigan (5-1-2) will enter Thursday night's game at Penn State (6-2-0) tied for second place with the Nittany Lions, each holding 18 points, six points back of first-place Minnesota, which has played two more games than the Wolverines and Nittany Lions.

After Thursday's game, U-M and PSU will travel to New York City to play a neutral-site affair at Madison Square Garden Saturday (though Penn State is the home team) and will then play twice more in Ann Arbor March 11-12 in the final regular-season weekend of the year.

With at least four games against the Blue and White, the Wolverines are motivated to turn this series around.

"Every team gets up to play Michigan, whether it’s the U.S. National Under-18 team or someone we see once a year like Ferris State, but Penn State maybe more so the past two years than even Michigan State or Ohio State are that team that we have circled on the calendar," senior left winger Justin Selman said.

"And for the seniors, especially, Penn State is that team that might be the sole reason we didn’t make the tournament the past two years so that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth and really has us ready to go."

Michigan Adjusting To Lineup Changes

For 10 games, dating back to its series with Wisconsin Dec. 4-5, Michigan has enjoyed relative stability in its forward lines, but this weekend, the Wolverines will adapt to changes to their third and fourth lines with the absences of freshman center Cooper Marody and sophomore left wing Dexter Dancs.

The center on Michigan's third line, Marody will miss the series while battling mononucleosis while Dancs will sit out tomorrow night's game after earning a suspension from the Big Ten for his role in a post-game fight against Ohio State Jan. 17.

Junior Max Shuart, who has enjoyed a successful stint as U-M's fourth-line center -- he has a goal and six assists in his last 10 games -- will move up to third line to replace Marody, leaving the fourth line to spare parts.

"The thing about Michigan is it’s the next-man up mentality," said Selman. "Last year I was in the same boat, bottom half of the lineup, playing fourth line and then [senior] Boo [Nieves] gets sick and I get a chance to be on the top line, and made a difference.

"So I feel like guys like [junior] Evan Allen will make a difference on the fourth line and I think Max Shuart stepping up on the third line will be a really good opportunity for him that he will take advantage of."

Defensively, the Wolverines will also be without sophomore Cutler Martin, who was suspended for both games of the Penn State series for his involvement in the Ohio State brawl. In his place, U-M turns to sophomore Sam Piazza.

After playing in just four of Michigan's first 15 games, Piazza has appeared in five of the past six and has a plus/minus of plus-2.

"Sam had a great Great Lakes Invitational [Dec. 29-30] with a couple guys missing from our blue line so we're completely confident in him," said De Jong.

"As a defense, we thrived on everyone saying we couldn't get it done at the GLI, and probably played our best hockey of the year, and I think you'll see the same thing from our entire team this weekend.

"We're missing some regulars but we're extremely motivated to show what we can do."

Wolverines Excited To Play At Madison Square Garden

Michigan has already played two games this season at Joe Louis Arena, home of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings, and it will now play at Madison Square Garden Saturday.

U-M will play in NHL rinks again when it meets Michigan State at Joe Louis Feb. 5, Ohio State at the Columbus Bluejackets' Nationwide Arena March 6, and will play at the Minnesota Wild's Xcel Center in St. Paul, Minn. for the Big Ten Tournament March 17-19.

"The reason I’ve been supportive of these so-called big-game environments is I think it’s a good experience for our school to be on that stage," Berenson said. "It’s good for our program whether it’s recruiting or just the experience for our players because eventually if you’re going to go anywhere in college hockey, you have to play in the big rinks because that's where they play the NCAA games."

Saturday's game is part of a Big Ten, Michigan and Penn State double-header in which the programs' basketball teams will compete at noon at MSG and the hockey teams will play at 7pm.

"We’d like to go to the basketball game, and we’re very supportive, and I’m sure some of our players might watch bits and pieces on TV, but we’re there to get ready for our game," Berenson said. "Our game is paramount to what we want to accomplish so we can’t be worried about things like that."

For the Wolverines, the opportunity to play at Madison Square Garden, home of the New York Rangers, is a thrill.

"MSG is such an iconic arena so I think everyone will be very excited but at the end of the day we’re there to play Penn State and beat Penn State," De Jong said.

Miscellaneous Notes

• Junior defenseman Kevin Lohan will make the trip to State College and New York. The 6-5, 221-pound Lohan has played in only two of 21 games this year due to injury.

"He’s game ready. If you asked me what percent? Does that mean 100 percent? I can’t say that, but day after day … every day he finishes a full practice is a good sign," Berenson said, "And so far there have been no setbacks.

"He will be our extra defenseman on the trip."