"There's no rest for the weary" could be the Penn State men's ice hockey team's motto going into this weekend.

After this weekend's double dip with West Virginia at the Greenberg Ice Pavilion, the No. 2 Icers will have played six games in 11 days.

The puck drops at 9 tonight and 3:30 Saturday afternoon.

Wednesday marked the fourth time the Icers (11-2-2 ACHA, 13-3-2) played in eight days, and their mental and physical fatigue may have shown. The Icers skated to a 5-5 tie with No. 11 Towson, a team they walloped 5-1 earlier this season.

Despite his team's lack of rest, head coach Joe Battista doesn't want any pity.

"I know we played a lot of hockey in a short period of time, but that's what we're going to have to do at nationals," Battista said. "If we want to win another championship, we have a lot of work to do."

The unranked Mountaineers (5 - 12 - 1) may be just what the doctor ordered for the humbled Icers. Battista's gang waxed their border rivals 8-0 at Morgantown in mid-November.

Still, Battista is expecting nothing less than perfection from his squad.

"I want to see a 100 percent effort and we have to win in a dominating way," he said.

The Icers received some good news Thursday when it was announced that forward Alon Eizenman and defenseman Josh Mandel will return to the lineup for this weekend's series.

Eizenman, last season's ACHA player of the year, has been out of action since Thanksgiving because of an unknown ailment that has caused an enlargement of his spleen.

"I'm very excited," Eizenman said of his return. "Having two All-Americans return would help any team."

Mandel suffered an ankle injury in December, but was able to play last week's Two Nations Cup Tournament in Toronto until reaggravating the injury in the second game.

Head coach Joe Battista said the return of his two players should bolster the Icers' struggling special teams.

"We miss both Alon and Mandel on our power play," he said after Wednesday night's tie against Towson. "We've gotten down to the point where we've lost too many good players."

Battista will make a change between the pipes for the weekend set. Freshman netminder Yan Clermont will get the start Friday while junior Geoff Beauparlant will get the nod on Saturday.

Battista's decision may have been prompted after Scott Graham's rough outing in Wednesday's game when he allowed five goals on just 16 shots.

Graham's dismal showing may have come as a surprise to Battista since the sophomore goalie was named MVP of last week's tournament after making 73 saves in two games.

"I'm just hoping he had one bad game," Battista said referring to Graham. "The other guys have worked hard and deserve and opportunity to play."