Michigan State celebrates after defeating the Gophers in a shootout at 3M Arena at Mariucci on Dec. 14. (Ayrton Breckenridge/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Gophers men’s hockey team has advanced to the NCAA tournament for four consecutive years, and in each of those seasons, coach Bob Motzko’s squad has followed a familiar formula: Finish strong in the second half of the Big Ten season in January and February, and games in March and April will follow.

In the second half of Big Ten play over the past four years, the Gophers have secured 66.7%, 75%, 83.3% and 70% of available points. Out of those grew NCAA regional final appearances in 2021 and ’24 and back-to-back Frozen Four trips in ’22 and ’23.

It’s late January, and the time has arrived for the Gophers to make a run.

“Every year — you don’t know what weekend it’s going to be — but there are weekends that show up on your schedule that are, ‘OK, it’s game on.’ And this is one of them," Motzko said.

It’s game on because the top two teams in the Big Ten are meeting this weekend. The third-ranked Gophers travel to No. 2 Michigan State for a Friday-Saturday series that carries both conference and national implications. The Spartans (19-3-2, 10-2-2 Big Ten) sit atop the conference standings with 32 points, one more than the Gophers (19-5-2, 10-3-1).

Michigan State also is No. 2 behind Boston College in the PairWise Ratings and one spot ahead of Minnesota. That’s due in large part to the Dec. 13-14 series in Minneapolis, where the Spartans secured five of the available six points with a 3-3 tie (plus shootout win) and a 5-3 comeback win from a two-goal third-period deficit.

Rosemount native Charlie Stramel scored the winning goal for the Spartans in that finale, and he’s looking forward to another high-stakes matchup.

“It was a big weekend for our team right before break there,” said Stramel, a 2023 first-round draft pick of the Wild. “And it’s always super fun playing those guys.”

For their part, the Gophers don’t want to overemphasize one series, but they know the value of the six points at stake.

“It’s important to recognize the importance of the weekend,” Gophers center Oliver Moore said. “It could be some massive points coming up, but obviously, you don’t want to get too far ahead of yourself. You want to take it a period at a time, a shift at a time.”

Added Gophers defenseman Sam Rinzel, “They know it’s a big weekend. We know it’s a big weekend.”

The Gophers are rounding into shape after dealing with a run of injuries that left them shorthanded in December and early January. Their health has improved, but they’re still seeking consistency in their game.

For example, the Gophers were thoroughly outplayed on Jan. 10 in a 5-1 loss at Ohio State. On the next night, they rolled 6-1 over the Buckeyes.

Last week against Notre Dame, Minnesota had a jaw-dropping 42 shot attempts and five goals in the first period of a 5-2 win over Notre Dame. A day later, they constantly chased the game, rallied to force overtime but fell 4-3.

Motzko believes that paying attention to details and not trying to do too much will lead to consistency from his team. The Gophers lead the nation with an average of 4.1 goals per game, but they have a 5-5-2 record when they don’t reach four goals.

“We’re either hitting home runs or trying to find ways to hit home runs,” Motzko said. “And I’d like to just go back to singles and doubles right now.”

Gophers at Michigan State

6 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday at Munn Ice Arena

TV/stream: B1G+ on Friday, BTN on Saturday

Radio: 100.3-FM Friday, 103.5-FM, 1130-AM Saturday

Gophers: Third-ranked Minnesota (19-5-2, 10-3-1 Big Ten) is coming off a four-point series against Notre Dame in which the Gophers won 5-2 in the opener before falling 4-3 in overtime in the finale. Jimmy Snuggerud leads the Gophers and is tied for second nationally with 33 points on 15 goals and 18 assists. Connor Kurth (11-17-28) is tied for 10th in scoring and leads the nation with a plus-27 rating. Liam Souliere is seventh with a 1.78 goals-against average.

Spartans at a glance: Second-ranked Michigan State (19-3-2, 10-2-2) leads the Big Ten with 32 points, one more than Minnesota. The Spartans are coming off a series at Michigan in which they lost 3-2 in overtime in the opener before winning 4-1 the next night. MSU’s top line includes national scoring leader Isaac Howard (18-18-36) plus Charlie Stramel (8-13-21) and Daniel Russell (10-8-18). Goalie Trey Augustine is 12-3-2 with a 1.97 GAA, .932 save percentage and two shutouts.