Preview: Wild vs. Penguins

SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- The Minnesota Wild will face the Pittsburgh Penguins as the team hosts Marc-Andre Fleury night in honor of the future Hall of Fame goaltender's 1,000 NHL games and for passing Patrick Roy with 552 wins.

Info for Tonight's Game:

• When: Friday, February 9 at 7:00 p.m. CT
• Where: Xcel Energy Center (St. Paul, Minnesota)
• Tickets: MAF Night (limited quantities remain)
• Watch: Bally Sports North
• Listen: KFAN 100.3 FM
• Gamecenter: Wild vs. Penguins

Wild Record: 22-23-5, 49 points, T-6th in Central Division

Penguins Record: 23-17-7, 53 points, 5th in Metropolitan Division

2023-24 Series Record: 0-1-0

Wild vs. Penguins All-Time Record: 14-16-2 (6-7-2 at Xcel Energy Center)

Last Time Out

The Wild defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1, on Wednesday night (2/7) at United Center in Chicago. F Jake Lucchini scored his first goal in a Wild sweater and F Marcus Foligno scored the GWG after his brother, Nick Foligno, tied the game. F Vinni Lettieri (0-2=2) recorded two points in his return from Injured Reserve. G Filip Gustavsson made 20-of-21 saves to post a .952 SV%.

The Penguins shutout the Winnipeg Jets, 3-0, on Tuesday (2/6) at PPG Paints Arena. D Kris Letang scored first for the Pens, then forwards Jeff Carter and Bryan Rust each scored power-play goals. G Tristan Jarry stopped all 23 shots for his league-leading sixth shutout of the season.

Previously on Wild vs. Penguins

Pittsburgh won the series-opening game, 4-3, at PPG Paints Arena on December 18.

F Ryan Hartman (1-0=1), Lettieri (1-0=1) and D Jake Middleton (1-0=1) each scored for the Wild. Gustavsson stopped 26-of-30 shots faced for Minnesota.

F Sidney Crosby (1-1=2), F Jake Guentzel (1-1=2), F Evgeni Malkin (1-1=2), D Marcus Pettersson (0-2=2) and D Valtteri Puustinen (0-2=2) all paced the Penguins with two points each. G Alex Nedeljkovic saved 24-of-27 shots faced to earn the victory for Pittsburgh.

Players to Watch

• Fleury recorded his 552nd career win with a 5-0 victory vs. NYI (1/15), moving past Patrick Roy (551 career wins) for second-most in NHL history
  • Hosted the 74th shutout of his NHL career vs. NYI (1/15) and needs two more to tie Tony Esposito and Ed Belfour (76 career SO each) for 10th most in NHL history
  • He became the fourth goaltender in NHL history to reach the 1,000 games played mark when he started vs. WPG (12/31)
• F Kirill Kaprizov leads Minnesota with 45 points (19-26=45) this season and moved into fourth on the franchise’s all-time goal scoring list (132 goals) when he scored against Anaheim (1/27)
  • He has 21 points (11-10=21) and a plus-9 rating in his last 15 games played
• F Joel Eriksson Ek leads Minnesota with 21 goals and nine PPGs this season and has 14 points (6-8=14) in his last 13 games
• Crosby (27-24=51) leads the Penguins in goals and points and is T-4th in assists
  • He is on an eight-game point streak with 10 points (5-5=10) in those eight games
• Guentzel (22-28=50) is T-1st on Pittsburgh in assists and is second on the team with goals and points
  • He has three goals in his last five games and seven points (4-3=7) in his last 10 games
• D Erik Karlsson (7-28=35) leads the Pens defense in scoring, is T-1st on the team in assists, fourth in points and owns nine points (1-8=9) in ten games

Recent Transactions

The Minnesota Wild reassigned F Adam Raska to Iowa (2/6) and recalled F Adam Beckman and F Jake Lucchini from Iowa (2/5). 

To view more recent transactions, visit wild.com/transactions.

To view Minnesota's full Injury Report, visit wild.com/injury.

Connections

• Fleury was selected by the Penguins first overall in the 2003 NHL Draft and went 375-216-68 with a 2.58 GAA, a .912 SV% and 44 shutouts in 691 career games (667 starts) in 13 seasons (2003-17)
  • He posted a 62-51 record with a 2.65 GAA, a .908 SV% and 10 shutouts in 115 career playoff contests (113 starts) with Pittsburgh and won the Stanley Cup in 2009, 2016 and 2017
• Minnesota President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Guerin totaled 57 points (26-31=57) in 95 games with Pittsburgh in two seasons (2008-10), winning the Stanley Cup in 2009
  • He spent eight seasons in the Penguins’ front office (2011-19), including five seasons (2014-19) as Assistant General Manager where he won two more Stanley Cups (2016, 2017)
• Minnesota Head Coach John Hynes served as Head Coach of Wilkes-Barre Scranton for five seasons (2010-15) and one season as an Assistant Coach (2009-10)
  • He led Wilkes-Barre to a record of 231-126-27 in 384 games (.636) and five consecutive appearances in the Calder Cup Playoffs as Head Coach
• F Frederick Gaudreau collected 10 points (2-8=10) in 19 games with the Penguins in 2020-21
• D Alex Goligoski was drafted by the Penguins in the second round (61st overall) of the 2004 NHL Draft and recorded 90 points (23-67=90) in 177 games during parts of four seasons with Pittsburgh (2007-11) and won the Stanley Cup in 2009
• Gustavsson was selected by Pittsburgh in the second round (55th overall) of the 2016 NHL Draft
• Crosby played at Shattuck-St. Mary’s (2002-03)
• Guentzel played high school hockey at Hill-Murray

Fast Facts

•  The Wild has scored 96 goals in the all-time series, while Pittsburgh has scored 99

Game Notes

For more information on tonight's matchup, check out the game notes below.