Where do Gophers men's hockey stand after Friday win over Penn State?

It's the fifth straight win in Happy Valley for the Gophers.

Bryce Brodzinski recorded his 100th career point and Rhett Pitlick had a career-high three points as the Minnesota Golden Gophers defeated Penn State 4-1 on Friday night.

The Nittany Lions opened the scoring with Dane Dowiak's goal from Tanner Palocsik and Matt DiMarsico at 5:30 of the first period but the Gophers stormed back with Sam Rinzel's first career goal from Pitlick at 16:35 and Brodzinski's goal from Jaxon Nelson and Mason Nevers at 18:07 of the first period to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.

Connor Kurth extended Minnesota's lead with a goal from Oliver Moore and Pitlick at 9:06 of the second period and Pitlick capped the scoring with a goal from Jimmy Snuggerud and Luke Mittelstadt at 11:42 of the first period.

While the Gophers were out-shot 34-21, Justen Close preserved the victory with 33 saves on the night. Minnesota also went 0-for-3 on the power play while Penn State went 0-for-5.

The win helped Minnesota improve to 8-4-3 on the season and sit fourth in the Big Ten behind Michigan State (5-1-2), Wisconsin (5-2-0) and Notre Dame (4-1-2) with a 4-3-2 conference record.

The Gophers will wrap up its weekend series at Penn State at 5 p.m. on Saturday.