From the Rink: Staal knows the pressures of 1,000th NHL game day

ST. PAUL -- Ryan Suter is expected to become the 325th player in history to skate in his 1,000th NHL game on Thursday night when the Wild play the Los Angeles Kings at Xcel Energy Center.
One of the previous 324 resides in the Wild dressing room in centerman Eric Staal, who reached 1,000 two seasons ago in a game at Winnipeg on March 19, 2017.
For hockey players, who are notorious creatures of habit, the day of the 1,000th game can be a little different. Most of the time, a player is just one of 20, but on a day like Thursday, the attention will be entirely on the guy wearing No. 20.

"That's the awkward part, it's kind of more individualized, it's more about you, which I think for most hockey players is a little bit weird," Staal said. "Obviously, [most of the time], it's about the team and what you're trying to accomplish together."
That spotlight will be incredibly bright for Suter, one who shies away even more from the limelight and is someone who appreciates the sanctity of a quiet dressing room. Suter has never liked when the headlines are about him and is approaching the game Thursday as just another of what he hopes will be many, many more in the years to come.
But when you're about to do something that has been done by only 325 people in the 101-year history of the League, celebrating that accomplishment is natural, even if it's your teammates leading the charge.

"It's cool as teammates to kind of enjoy it with him," Staal said. "It's not a regular occurrence of somebody hitting 1,000 games. He should feel good about it. Hopefully for us, we'll play well and get a win because it's a lot of fun at the end of the night with a win."
Even after Suter plays in his milestone game tonight, he won't find relief from the spotlight until after Saturday's game against the Colorado Avalanche. More than 100 friends and family are expected in town for a pregame ceremony honoring Suter's accomplishment, including people locally and from his hometown of Madison, Wisconsin and elsewhere.
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After that, the Wild hits the road for seven consecutive games, so the odds are good Suter will be able to find the relative anonymity of a normal routine.
Staal said he found a sense of relief once all the hoopla surrounding the game subsided.
"You're used to just your daily routine with your group and your team and when it's all about you tonight and then the presentation on Saturday, it's Ryan Suter week," Staal said. "When you're in that situation, you feel a little silly. But everyone else around you, it's fun to celebrate. It's a big deal and he should enjoy it and he should be proud, and as teammates, we're proud of him."

Here are the projected lineups:
WILD
Jason Zucker - Eric Staal - Nino Niederreiter
Zach Parise - Mikko Koivu - Mikael Granlund
Jordan Greenway - Charlie Coyle - Matt Read
Marcus Foligno - Eric Fehr - JT Brown

Ryan Suter - Matt Dumba
Jonas Brodin - Jared Spurgeon
Nick Seeler - Greg Pateryn

Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
KINGS
Alex Iafallo - Anze Kopitar - Tyler Toffoli
Ilya Kovalchuk - Jeff Carter - Tanner Pearson
Kyle Clifford - Adrian Kempe - Nate Thompson
Austin Wagner - Michael Amadio - Trevor Lewis
Paul LaDue - Drew Doughty
Jake Muzzin - Alec Martinez
Sean Walker - Dion Phaneuf

Jack Campbell
Jonathan Quick