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Wild try to extend series win streak over Penguins

Oct 18, 2011 - 2:51 PM (Sports Network) - The Minnesota Wild look to continue their success against the shorthanded Pittsburgh Penguins when the two teams clash tonight at Xcel Energy Center.

Minnesota won last year's only meeting by a 4-0 score and has prevailed in each of the last four matchups between the clubs. The Wild are 9-2 with a tie in the 12 contests in this series with Pittsburgh, which is just 1-3 with a tie in five trips to the Twin Cities.

The Wild are coming off Saturday's 3-2 overtime loss versus Detroit, as Johan Franzen's power-play goal late in overtime lifted the Red Wings to victory. Cal Clutterbuck and Greg Zanon both scored for the Wild, who have lost three of four since opening the year with a win over Columbus.

Josh Harding stopped 38-of-41 shots in defeat.

"Josh was outstanding tonight. He got us a point. We are really disappointed that we couldn't get a second point for him," Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo said. "He got us to overtime, gave us a chance to get a second one. He was great tonight."

The Wild were outshot by a lopsided 41-14 count, but were able to notch a point for the fourth time this season. Niklas Backstrom could replace Harding between the pipes tonight and is 3-0-0 versus Pittsburgh. Harding started in net Monday for the first time since March 26, 2010, when he suffered a hip injury at Detroit.

Minnesota defenseman Mike Lundin and forward Cody Almond are not expected to see action Tuesday due to lingering back issues. After tonight's tilt with the Pens, the Wild will hit the road to Edmonton and Vancouver.

Pittsburgh suffered its third consecutive loss in last night's 2-1 setback at Winnipeg, which recorded its first win of the season. The Penguins have dropped three straight one-goal games, while Zbynek Michalek scored the lone goal and Marc-Andre Fleury allowed two goals on 34 shots.

Fleury allowed a goal to Kyle Wellwood eight seconds into the game.

"Conceding a goal in the first eight seconds got the fans pretty amped up," Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma said. "We expected the Jets to come hard and play with a lot of emotion and energy early on and they did exactly that."

Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin sat out the game with a sore right knee and has missed four of the last five games. Superstar Sidney Crosby is still recovering from a concussion suffered in January, but has been cleared for contact. Penguins winger Tyler Kennedy is also out because of a concussion.

Pittsburgh backup netminder Brent Johnson may get the start tonight. The Penguins will wrap up a quick two-game road trip Tuesday before heading back to the Steel City to host Montreal and New Jersey.