There are good and bad memories for the Michigan hockey team as the Wolverines prepare to face Penn State at Madison Square Garden.

The hockey game is part of a Super Saturday two-sport doubleheader in New York. A men’s basketball game between U-M and Penn State tips at noon. No. 6 Michigan (15-3-4, 6-1-2) will face No. 15 Penn State (16-6-3, 6-3-0) in the hockey game at 7. The Big Ten Network will air both games, including pregame and postgame shows.

The Michigan hockey team includes five players with New York ties. Senior forward Cristoval (Boo) Nieves, from Baldwinsville, N.Y., was a second-round pick in 2012 of the New York Rangers, who call the Garden home.

“I got to play there my freshman year, which was an awesome experience,” Nieves said. “I had never skated there before.”

Senior forward Justin Selman is from Upper Saddle River, N.J., and his family has season tickets to Rangers games.

“I think my parents, on my mom’s side, ended up buying almost 50 tickets,” Selman said. “And my dad’s family has a suite at the Garden and filled that up and probably bought a couple more. There should be close to about a hundred people.

“I grew up a Devils fan, and as you grow up in hockey, you kind of become a fan of the game. Started going to games at the Garden. … Just a better atmosphere at the Garden. Rangers games have a lot of excitement going on.”

The other players with New York ties are senior goaltender Steve Racine (Williamsville, N.Y.), freshman defenseman Joseph Cecconi (Youngstown, N.Y.) and junior defenseman Kevin Lohan (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.).

Nieves and Selman hope this experience will be better than the last time they played at MSG. They lost, 5-1, to Cornell as freshmen. They also hope it will be better than some recent experiences against Penn State.

“Penn State’s definitely a good team, and we’ve definitely underestimated them the past few years,” Nieves said. “They’ve come into our rink and beat us. We’ve gone there, and they’ve beaten us. It’s been a frustrating history with them so far. We want to make sure we come out on top in a special game.”

Michigan lost three of five meetings against Penn State in 2013-2014, including 2-1 in double overtime at the Big Ten tournament at Joe Louis Arena. Michigan won one of four meetings against Penn State in 2014-2015.

“We can probably safely say they kicked us out of the (NCAA) tournament for two years,” Selman said.

Saturday’s game features two of the most potent offenses in college hockey. As of Monday, Michigan led the country in scoring offense, averaging 4.86 goals per game. Penn State ranked fifth, averaging 3.96.

Coach Red Berenson’s Wolverines should probably wind up with more goals in the Garden then he ever scored for the Rangers.

Berenson scored two goals in 49 games with the Rangers from 1966-67 before he was traded to the St. Louis Blues.

“It just wasn’t working out,” Berenson said of his time in New York. “At one time I told the coach and the manager, ‘You’re wasting your money on me, and I’m wasting my time playing here.’ I told them that. I was hoping they’d let me go in the expansion draft, but they didn’t. They protected me. But they gave me a significant raise, even though I was coming off the worst year of my life.”

Berenson scored 16 goals over parts of seven seasons with the Canadiens and Rangers before the trade to the Blues. Berenson, who went on to play five seasons with the Wings from 1970-74, finished his NHL career with 261 goals and 658 points in 987 games.

Contact George Sipple: gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgesipple. 

Hockey night in New York

Matchup: Michigan (15-3-4, 6-1-2 Big Ten) vs. 15 Penn State (16-6-3, 6-3-0).

Face-off: 7 p.m., Madison Square Garden.

TV: Big Ten Network.