Wild Warmup: Minnesota vs. Los Angeles

The essentials

ST. PAUL -- Ryan Suter will play in his
1,000th NHL game
on Thursday as the Wild hosts the Los Angeles Kings at Xcel Energy Center.
Minnesota enters the contest riding a three-game winning streak following victories against Arizona, Dallas and Tampa Bay last week. The Wild is in the midst of a stretch of seven of nine games on home ice (Thursday marks the sixth of those seven contests). Minnesota will host the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday before playing its next seven games on the road between Oct. 29 and Nov. 11.

Los Angeles will conclude a quick two-game stretch of road games against Central Division foes on Thursday following a 4-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. The Kings have lost five consecutive games overall dating back to Oct. 13, with four of those games coming against Eastern Conference competition.

The Silver Stick

• Suter is expected to become the 325th player (322nd skater) and 109th defenseman in NHL history to reach the 1,000-game milestone. The 33-year-old will be the sixth player to play his 1,000th game in a Wild sweater: Eric Staal (March 19, 2017 at WPG); Matt Cooke (March 11, 2014 vs. EDM); Matt Cullen (1/10/12 vs. SJ); Andrew Brunette (2/1/11 vs. LA); Keith Carney (Feb. 24, 2008 vs. CGY). The Wild will honor Suter for reaching 1,000 games in a special pre-game ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 27 vs. Colorado.
• Suter used a goal (GWG) and an assist Friday at Dallas to register his 499th and 500th career points, respectively. He became the sixth active NHL defenseman to reach the 500-point milestone, 65th all-time. Per NHL Stats, he also became the 11th U.S.-born defenseman in NHL history to reach the milestone. He will become the 51st defenseman in NHL history to play in 1,000 games and record 500 points.

On the comeback trail

• The Wild has scored first in two of its eight games this season, while its opponents have scored first in the last six straight games. Minnesota is 0-1-1 when scoring first this season but is 4-1-1 when its opponent scores first.
• Minnesota ranks T-1st in the NHL in comeback wins and T-3rd in win percentage when its opponent scores first (.667).

Home-ice advantage

• Minnesota has earned a point in all five games at Xcel Energy Center this season (3-0-2), ranking T-2nd in the NHL in home points (8) and T-3rd amongst Western Conference teams in home wins. The Wild is one of four teams that has not suffered a regulation loss on home ice.
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• Four of the five home games have been decided in extra sessions - Minnesota is the only NHL team to play more than two extra sessions on home ice this season.
• Per NHL stats, dating to the start of last season, Minnesota owns a 30-6-10 record in 46 regular-season games at Xcel Energy Center, with only two regulation losses in the building since Christmas (20-2-8 since Dec. 27, 2017). Only two other clubs have fewer than 10 regulation losses on home ice since the start of 2017-18: Winnipeg (36-7-3) and Boston (31-8-5).

King size

2017-18: Minnesota earned points in two of its three season meetings against Los Angeles (0-1-2)…The Wild dropped the first match, 5-2, at STAPLES Center (12/5), recorded a point in the second match with a 4-3 overtime loss at Xcel Energy Center (3/19) and earned another point in the third match with a 5-4 overtime loss in Los Angeles (4/5)…D Matt Dumba (1-2=3) and C Mikko Koivu (0-3=3) led Minnesota with three points apiece…C Charlie Coyle (1-1=2), RW Mikael Granlund (0-2=2), D Ryan Murphy (1-1=2) and C Eric Staal (2-0=2) tallied two points each…G Devan Dubnyk went 0-1-1 with a 3.88 GAA and a .860 SV% in two starts…G Alex Stalock stopped 23-of-28 shots through overtime in the third contest…RW Dustin Brown (5-2=7) and D Drew Doughty (0-7=7) led the Kings with seven points each…C Anze Kopitar had five points (1-4=5)…C Jeff Carter (2-1=3), D Jake Muzzin (1-2=3) and LW Tanner Pearson (1-2=3) recorded three points apiece…G Jonathan Quick went 3-0-0 with a 2.94 GAA and a .880 SV% in three games.
WILD LEADERS: Koivu leads Minnesota with 37 points (11-26=37) in 39 games against Los Angeles…D Ryan Suter owns 22 points (1-21=22) in 43 contests…LW Zach Parise has 16 points (6-10=16) in 23 games…Staal owns 11 points (5-6=11) in 19 contests…Coyle has nine points (6-3=9) in 18 matches.
WILD GOALIES: Dubnyk is 7-5-2 with a 2.52 GAA and a .922 SV% in 15 games (14 starts) vs. the Kings…Stalock is 0-2-1 with a 2.93 GAA and a .889 SV% in four games (three starts).
KINGS LEADERS: Kopitar leads the Kings with 34 points (11-23=34) in 42 matches against Minnesota…Brown has 25 points (12-13=25) in 45 games…Carter owns 21 points (10-11=21) in 27 contests…Doughty owns 21 points (3-18=21) in 33 matches.
KINGS GOALIES: Quick is 13-7-4 with a 2.57 GAA and a .897 SV% in 24 career starts vs. the Wild…G Jack Campbell has not faced Minnesota.

Did you know?

Minnesota is 5-1-4 in the last 10 games against Los Angeles and 13-7-6 in its last 26 games against the Kings with 12 of those games decided in extra sessions…Minnesota is 14-4-5 in the last 23 contests played at Xcel Energy Center, including an active five-game point streak since March 28, 2015 (4-0-1).