Tim Benz: Penguins getting Wild at their hottest

Tuesday night’s loss against the New York Rangers began a seven-game stretch for the Penguins exclusively against opponents that are currently in playoff slots.

The next such challenge comes against the Minnesota Wild Thursday. And they are the hottest team of the bunch.

Under the eye of former Penguin Bill Guerin as the general manager, the Wild have their fans buzzing. They have won seven in a row and have totaled 41 wins through 65 games. That’s good for second in the Central Division (86 points), behind only the Western Conference-leading Colorado Avalanche (100 points).

“We’re a tough team to be against. We’re rolling right now, all four lines, the defensemen, both the goaltenders, everyone’s on board. If the leaders just keep going, it’s going to be tough for any team to stop us, I feel like,” forward Kevin Fiala said via the team’s website.

Minnesota has qualified for the postseason eight of the last nine years. Yet, in the 22 years of the franchise’s history, the Wild have never exceeded 49 wins. With 17 games left and the way the club is currently playing under head coach Dean Evason, finally getting to that 50-win plateau is within reach.

The team could be on the verge of jumping over some other hurdles that have been in the way of franchise success since joining the NHL as an expansion club.

• The organization has had only one season in which it has made a conference final. In the team’s third year of existence, it won two rounds before being swept in the 2003 Western Conference Final by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.

• For six straight years, the Wild have either lost in the first round of the playoffs or failed to qualify. The team’s last playoff-round victory was a 2015 first-round elimination of the Avalanche.

Last year’s seven-game, first-round playoff loss to the Vegas Golden Knights was the first time since 2016 that the Wild could even boast of winning more than one game in a series.

• Minnesota hasn’t won its division since 2008 and has only finished above third twice since then.

So genuine playoff anticipation has been rare in Saint Paul. Even this year, with the fearsome Avs looming as a potential second-round opponent, Minnesota fans have every right to be guarded.

Don’t look for reasons in their own play to heighten that sense, though. Especially defensively. During the seven-game winning streak, the Wild have not allowed an opponent to score more than two goals. In fact, they have yielded just 10 goals in those seven games.

Goalie Cam Talbot — the NHL’s reigning First Star of the Week— has five of the wins. Newly acquired former Penguin Marc-Andre Fleury has the other two.

They’ve had to be sharp because the Wild haven’t been scoring much during their hot streak, despite the fact that they average 3.63 goals per game (4th in the NHL). The defense and goaltending have done the job as the team has scored over three goals just twice in the victories, and never more than four.

Three of the wins have come in overtime, so the Wild are a team that has become comfortable when games are tight late. Kirill Kaprizov leads Minnesota with 37 goals. He has 82 points. That’s one point from tying Marian Gaborik’s single-season team record.

It won’t get any easier for the Pens after this game against Minnesota. They have two games against the Avalanche next.

“It’s a good test for us trying to get down this stretch,” Penguins winger Rickard Rakell said Wednesday. “Have a playoff mentality. Trying to get better as every game goes by. The teams we are facing on this road trip will be a challenge.”

So will the ensuing homestand and each of the next six games over 11 days.