Game Notes
The Penguins enter tonight’s game with points in nine-consecutive games versus the Wild (8-0-1). The Penguins are 12-3-1 in the last 16 games played against the Wild dating back to Nov. 4, 2014.
Kris Letang has recorded a point in his last seven games against Minnesota (3G-6A) and has 18 points (4G-14A) in 20 career games versus them.
Sidney Crosby has one goal on 12 shots (8.3%) in five career games versus former teammate Marc-Andre Fleury. Evgeni Malkin has two goals on 14 shots (14.3%) in five games against Fleury.
Evgeni Malkin has had a hot hand against the Wild in his career with 10 goals and 13 assists in 18 career games played against them. He’s scored the gamewinning goal in two of his last four games against them.
Pittsburgh’s nine game point streak against Minnesota is its third-longest point streak versus any one team (14 game point streak vs. ARI and 10 game point streak vs. CBJ).
Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby leads Pittsburgh in goals (17) and is second in points (31) and multi-point games (6). Crosby has registered points in 22 of 29 games this season (75.9%), and is one point shy of surpassing Mark Recchi for sole possession of 13th place on the NHL’s all-time points list.
Erik Karlsson enters tonight’s game two assists away from collecting 600 helpers in his career. Karlsson will be the second active defenseman to record 600 career assists after Carolina’s Brent Burns (601), and just the 10th active player to hit the mark. He is set to become the 18th blueliner in NHL history to reach the milestone, and the eighth fastest to do so in league history.
Marcus Pettersson enters tonight’s game one assist shy of 100 in his career. Pettersson ranks second on Pittsburgh in plus-minus (+12), is third in time-on-ice per game (22:17) and blocked shots (46), and is looking to become just the sixth defenseman chosen in the 2014 NHL Draft Class to record 100 assists
From a production standpoint on a per-game basis, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have been two of the best players against the Minnesota Wild. Each player ranks in the top-5 in points-per-game average against Minnesota in NHL history (min. 10 GP).
Pittsburgh’s power play has been productive over the last three games, going 4-for-11 (36.4%). Since this stretch began on Dec. 12, Pittsburgh’s 36.4% success rate on the power play is sixth in the NHL, but no other team has scored more power-play goals.
