(Sports Network) - The Pittsburgh Penguins can set an NHL record for the most points in October when the reigning Stanley Cup champions host the Minnesota Wild tonight at Mellon Arena.

The 11-2-0 Penguins' 22 points are tied for the most ever in the season's opening month, a feat that's been achieved six times previously. Colorado, which also has 22 points in the early going, had the first crack to break the mark on Friday but was defeated by San Jose.

Pittsburgh kept up its recent torrid play with last night's 4-3 shootout decision over Columbus, the team's ninth win in its last 10 games. The Penguins scored two unanswered goals in the third period to force extra time and prevailed when Sidney Crosby registered the lone tally of the shootout phase.

After Crosby fired a wrister that trickled past Columbus goaltender Steve Mason in the second round, Brent Johnson gloved a backhand attempt from the Jackets' Kristian Huselius to help Pittsburgh improve to 6-0-0 as the visitor this season.

The Penguins trailed 3-1 with under three minutes remaining in regulation, but received goals from Ruslan Fedotenko and Alex Goligoski 39 seconds apart to tie the score.

"We knew that going into the third we had 20 minutes left to put an effort out there to see what happened," Pittsburgh head coach Dan Bylsma remarked. "That's how we approach wins and losses and periods. The guys went out and played a good third period and hung in there and stuck with it and found a way to pull out the win."

The Penguins were also able to overcome the absence of star center Evgeni Malkin, who's expected to miss the next 2-to-3 weeks with a strained right shoulder.

Goligoski's marker extended his point streak to seven games, with the young defenseman having compiled four goals and four assists during that stretch. Crosby contributed two assists and has amassed 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists) over a six-game surge.

Minnesota will be entering tonight's matchup on a rare high note, having bested the New York Rangers by a 3-2 score Friday at the Xcel Energy Center. The win halted a two-game slide for the Wild, who currently reside at the bottom of the Western Conference standings with a 4-9-0 record.

Eric Belanger and Antti Miettinen had second-period goals for Minnesota to snap a 1-1 tie, while Niklas Backstrom made the lead stand by stopping 18- of-20 shots for the game. Petr Sykora added a goal and an assist to the winning effort.

The Wild will be out to stop an eight-game road losing streak to start the season tonight. Minnesota did post a 2-1 shootout triumph over the Penguins in Pittsburgh last November, however, and has left with a win in each of the team's last four visits to the Igloo.