Kirill Kaprizov isn't the only one who can make history on Thursday when the Wild concludes a franchise-long nine-game home stand at Xcel Energy Center against the Penguins.
With a win, the Wild will become the first NHL team to record eight wins over a nine-plus game home stand.
"We have to do the exact same thing when you're having success," coach Dean Evason said. "You can't get too full of yourself either because that's not going to continue to allow you to have success to continue to do that. Our group has done a really good job of that."
As for Kaprizov, he is at 82 points, one behind the single-season record held by Marian Gaborik when he posted 83 in 2007-08.
Kaprizov is also five goals shy of the goals record and trails the assists record by five. He has 37 goals and 45 assists.
In net, the Wild is starting Cam Talbot.
This will be his first appearance since Talbot was named the NHL's First Star of the Week on Monday after he went 3-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average, .959 save percentage and one shutout.
Overall, Talbot has won a career-high eight consecutive starts.
Across the ice, Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby has already ensured that he'll average a point per game for the 17th time in his career.
"He's just been an elite player, a leader," Evason said. "His competitiveness is something that just drives their team, drives every aspect of their game. When you have a guy like that, he just pulls people along."
Projected lineup:
Kirill Kaprizov-Ryan Hartman-Mats Zuccarello
Jordan Greenway-Joel Eriksson Ek-Marcus Foligno
Kevin Fiala-Frederick Gaudreau-Matt Boldy
Nic Deslauriers-Tyson Jost-Brandon Duhaime
Jake Middleton-Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin-Matt Dumba
Jon Merrill-Dmitry Kulikov
Cam Talbot
Key numbers:
3: Power play goals by Kaprizov over his last three games.
9-1-1: Run by the Wild over its last 11 games.
14: Points by winger Mats Zuccarello over his past 13 contests.
20: Wins for the Wild vs. the Eastern Conference.
40: Saves by Talbot in his last start, a 3-2 overtime win vs. Colorado on Sunday.
About the Penguins:
The Penguins are on a six-game point streak vs. the Wild (5-0-1). In its last six visits to Xcel Energy Center, Pittsburgh is 4-2. Center Evgeni Malkin is three assists shy of becoming the 57th player in NHL history to tally 700. Malkin averages 1.27 points-per-game in his career against the Wild. Crosby has a team-high 70 points.
