In life, a jump from .19 to .27 or a drop from .16 to .11 doesn’t mean a whole lot in most situations.

But, if you’re talking hockey, and the jump is in power-play percentage and the drop is in penalty kill percentage, well, that can mean quite a lot.

Both of those improvements belong to Minnesota’s men’s hockey team over the past three weekends, and the Gophers have ridden those upgrades to a six-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2).

“Specialties are huge, I think, in (the Western Collegiate Hockey Association) right now,” junior forward Ryan Potulny said. “Just the way the game’s kind of gotten lately. Teams play systems so well that you’ve got to kind of rely on specialties to get a goal for you every night.”

The power-play unit has been doing this for Minnesota throughout the unbeaten streak, accounting for goals in four of the six games.

The Gophers, who went 9-for-48 (.19) in their first eight games, are 10-for-39 (.27) during this recent stretch and currently have the seventh-best power play in the nation.

“We’re getting used to each other out there (now),” freshman forward Phil Kessel said. “We’re progressing and I think we’re doing pretty well right now.”

Kessel is a key member of that group, a group that usually consists of Potulny, junior forward Danny Irmen (freshman Blake Wheeler was on the unit while Irmen was injured) and defensemen Chris Harrington and Alex Goligoski.

While that group certainly is well-stocked in the talent department, a big reason for the elevated output ” according to Potulny ” is increased movement. That’s increased movement both in the area of passing and in just moving their feet in order to get the defense out of position.

These improvements have been especially beneficial for Potulny. He leads the nation in power-play goals with eight.

“You get five guys on the ice like that, something special’s going to happen,” Potulny said,

“and somebody’s gotta score the goals.”

The outlook obviously is a little different for the penalty kill. And over the unbeaten stretch, the unit has been able to turn its vision into solid results.

It has allowed just four power-play goals in its last 37 kill situations (.11). The unit also notched a shorthanded marker in the stretch. The penalty kill currently is the 10th best in the nation.

Minnesota allowed six goals in 47 kill situations before this stretch began.

A big key in the improved numbers for the killers have been its ability to increase its number of blocked shots. This is a crucial aspect of the penalty kill, according to sophomore forward Evan Kaufmann, a Gophers player frequently used on the penalty kill unit.

“In games it’s such a big task to get in shooting lanes and make sure pucks aren’t getting through to net,” Kaufmann said. “When your goalie’s screened and he can’t see it, it’s partially your job to get in the way and make sure it doesn’t ever get to him.”

And if the Gophers can keep the puck from getting through to or past the goalie on the penalty kill ” and get it through to or past the goalie on the power play ” the unbeaten streak could continue.

“At any level, you have to be good at specialties,” coach Don Lucia said. “More often than not, especially when good teams play, whoever wins the specialty battle wins the game.”