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Without Fleury, Penguins take on Wild

Nov 18, 2008 - 1:12 PM Minnesota (10-4-1) at Pittsburgh (11-4-2), 7:00 pm EST

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins have established themselves - yet again - as an Eastern Conference heavyweight thanks to the stellar goaltending of Marc-Andre Fleury.

However, the Penguins will be without their 23-year-old netminder when they try to extend their season-high, six-game winning streak against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday.

Fleury suffered an undisclosed injury late in Saturday's 5-2 triumph over the Buffalo Sabres but still finished the contest.

"He's not going to play," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said Monday. "It's not a major injury, but we don't want to take any risks. That's why we want to be really cautious with his injury."

Fleury, who did not practice Monday, is 8-3-2 with a 2.86 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage this season.

Dany Sabourin will step in looking for his fourth win in five games this season. The 28-year-old Quebec native notched two of the six victories in Pittsburgh's current streak.

Most recently, he relieved Fleury in the second period on Thursday and turned aside all 11 shots he faced before clinching a 5-4 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers. On November 8, Sabourin helped the Penguins skate to a 4-3 shootout over the New York Islanders.

Sabourin's other win also came via the bonus format, a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins on October 20.

Evgeni Malkin extended his points streak to 13 games with a four-point effort in the win over Buffalo, and now leads the NHL with 30 points - three more than Washington's Alexander Semin.

Minnesota is coming off a 3-2 shootout victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday and has won two straight and three of four. Benoit Pouliot and defenseman Erik Reitz scored in regulation and helped the Wild win two consecutive contests for the first time since October 25-27.

Goaltender Niklas Backstrom has started six straight and has yielded just 10 goals in that span. The 30-year-old is 10-3-1 in 14 games with a 2.00 GAA, good for fifth in the league.