Game preview: 10/29/24 vs. Minnesota Wild

Game notes

Kris Letang has scored a point in seven of his last nine games against Minnesota (3G-6A) and has 18 points in 22 games against Minnesota (4G-14A).

Evgeni Malkin had a strong career record with 11 goals and 15 assists in 20 games against the Wild. He scored the game-winning goal in two of his last six games against Minnesota.

Sidney Crosby's next game-winning goal will move him into a six-tie tie for 16th place on the NHL's all-time game-winning goals list. The five players with 92 wins are Johnny Bucyk, Mark Messier, Mike Modano, Jeremy Roenick and Jeff Carter.

Sidney Crosby has two goals on 17 shots (11.8%) in six career games against former teammate Marc-Andre Fleury. Evgeni Malkin has two goals on 19 shots (10.5%) in six games against Fleury.

The Penguins have an overall record of 389-90-47 when both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin record a point in a game.

Pittsburgh enters tonight with points in each of its last six home games against the Wild (5-0-1) since January 25, 2018. During that span, the Penguins have scored four or more goals in five of the six games and have the Wild outscored by a margin of 27-15. The Penguins' six-game home point streak against Minnesota is their fourth-longest active home point streak against a team.

Evgeni Malkin was one of the Penguins' hottest prospects from the start, collecting a team-high 14 points (3G-11A) in 10 games. Malkin has recorded multi-point attempts in five games this season, and three players have more multi-point games than Malkin. Malkin's 14 points are tied for the second-most points in NHL history by a player in his first 10 games in his over-38 season in NHL history.

Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang have scored a combined 303 career goals, trailing only Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty as the third-most goals by a forward-defensemen duo in NHL history.

From a production standpoint, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were two of the best players per game against the Minnesota Wild. Each player ranks in the top 5 in NHL history in points per game average against Minnesota (minimum 10 GP).

Crosby has 16 points (7G-9A) in his last eight games against the Wild and 11 multi-point attempts in 24 career games against the Wild. Of those 11 multi-point games, six of them were three-point games or better.

Pittsburgh defenseman Erik Karlsson has nine goals, 26 assists and 35 points in 29 games against the Wild. Only Roman Josi (16) and Jakob Chychrun (10) have scored more goals against Minnesota among defensemen in NHL history, and Karlsson's average of 1.21 points per game against them is the highest in league history among blueliners (min. 10 GP).

Anthony Beauvillier scored his third goal of the season in a multi-point effort (1G-1A) on Saturday night in Vancouver, and only Lars Eller (4) and Rickard Rakell (4) have scored more goals for the Penguins than him this season. Beauvillier scored his third goal in his tenth game, which is the third-fewest game it takes him to score three goals.

Sidney Crosby enters tonight with two even-strength goals, tying Luc Robitaille for the 13th most even-strength goals in NHL history.

Rickard Rakell always scored against the Minnesota Wild. In 32 career games, Rakell has 11 goals, six assists and 16 points. There are only two teams that Rakell has scored more goals against than the Wild (SJS, 16; EDM, 12).

Minnesota goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury will be between the pipes for the Wild at PPG Paints Arena tonight in what will likely be his final game in Pittsburgh. The three-time Stanley Cup champion with Pittsburgh (2009, '16, '17) spent the first 13 years of his career in black and gold from 2003 to 2017, appearing in 691 games with a record of 375-216-68 and 2, 58 goals against average, a .912 save percentage and 44 shutouts. He ranks in the top 2 all-time in franchise history in multiple categories (minimum 25 GP).

Fleury made his NHL debut with the Penguins as an 18-year-old on October 10, 2003, stopping 46 of 48 shots in a 3-0 loss to Los Angeles. Just a week later, he became the sixth-youngest goaltender in NHL history to record his first NHL win in 18 years and 324 days when the Penguins defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-3 on October 18, 2003.