This much, it seems, is certain: Defenseman Philippe Boucher, acquired from Dallas for Darryl Sydor Sunday, will make his Penguins debut when Minnesota visits Mellon Arena tonight.

It also seems safe to suggest that Boucher will get significant time on the power play, and that he'll log those minutes at the point.

Beyond that, anything is possible.

The Penguins, as usual, spent 15 or 20 minutes working on their power play before the formal start of practice yesterday, and Boucher was in the personnel mix for that session.

Just about everywhere in it, in fact.

He was used on the left and right points, and with the first and second units. Where Boucher will be deployed, and with whom, against the Wild had not been determined by the end of the workout.

"If you look at our power play, there are a lot of guys still trying to find their position, and there are positions to be won," said assistant coach Mike Yeo, who oversees the power play.

"He worked on the right side, he worked on the left side, he worked with different guys. Most of it was just trying to get a feel for our system, and the guys he's out there with."

The Penguins' power play hasn't really been in sync for most of the season and addressing that is a major concern because, as Yeo noted, "before we start worrying about other teams too much, we have to start playing the way we're supposed to play."

Tonight, the Penguins will try to regain their form against the league's best short-handed unit, Minnesota's penalty-killing success rate is 93.3 percent.

"They're very well-coached and they stick with their system," Yeo said. "They have great [active] sticks, they do a great job of getting in passing lanes, getting in shooting lanes. They, basically, don't give you anything."

If the Penguins are losing after two periods tonight -- and there's ample precedent for that this season -- it could set up an interesting collision of statistics.

The Penguins already have won six games they trailed after 40 minutes, while Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom has a 43-0-3 lifetime record when Minnesota leads at the end of two periods.

Backstrom's success at holding leads during the third period isn't surprising, given how well he does during the rest of the game. He has allowed two or fewer goals in 66 of his 108 career starts and given up four or more just 14 times.

Penguins center Evgeni Malkin is approaching one of the most impressive, though least celebrated, records in franchise history.

He has at least one assist in 13 consecutive games, three shy of the mark set by Jaromir Jagr from Jan. 19-Feb. 26.

If he sets up a goal tonight, Malkin will tie Mario Lemieux for second place on that list. Lemieux had an assist in 14 consecutive games between Jan. 5 and Feb. 16, 1986.

Sound defense is the cornerstone of Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire's philosophy and his Columbus counterpart, Ken Hitchcock, isn't often accused of being one of the leading proponents of firewagon hockey, either.

It was predictable, then, that when the Wild and Blue Jackets met Saturday in St. Paul, the game would have the entertainment value of a tape-delayed quilting bee.

"Oh my, that was painful," Wild center Eric Belanger told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune after Minnesota's 3-2 shootout victory. "I mean, they play the way we play. We had a taste of our own medicine. They don't give you much, like us. It was tough not to get frustrated. It must have been boring for the fans."