Game 18- Minnesota Wild @ Penguins

The Penguins will be paid a visit to Tuesday night by a very solid hockey club in the Minnesota Wild. The Wild sits tied with Vancouver for first place in the Northwest Division. They are currently third in the Western Conference. After an outstanding start that saw the Wild looking almost unbeatable, Minnesota has cooled off a bit, but they are still dangerous.

Mikko Koivu is the catalyst for the Wild, a small, shifty, but tough play making center. The younger brother of Saku has been among the league leaders in assists all year, currently with 13.

The Wild's top goal scorer, the lightning fast Marian Gaborik, has been injured almost the entire season, and he won't play on Tuesday. Safe to say the Penguins interest in him has faded just a bit.

Net minder Niklas Backstrom is the most underrated goalie in hockey. There is nothing he can't do well between the pipes, and it's always hard to get the puck past him.

If the Wild has one weakness, it's the defensive corps in front of Backstrom. Young stud Brent Burns headed up the group, but after him, not much is there. Offensively minded Marek Zidlicky is a powerplay specialist, and Marc-Andre Bergeron is the fastest skating blueliner in the NHL. You may notice that I say Burns "headed" up the group. That is because, for some stupid reason, he has been moved to right wing by his head coach, Jacques Lemaire.

For the Penguins, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury will miss the game with an undisclosed injury. That means that talented backup Dany Sabourin will make his fourth start of the season.

Newly acquired blueliner Phillipe Boucher will make his Penguins debut, and it is more than likely that he'll get time on the second powerplay unit, and maybe even the first. He seems a good bet to be paired with offensive juggernaut but defensive liability Alex Goligoski. Hopefully, the reliable Boucher will help out Goligoski and allow him to take more chances to utilize his phenomenal offensive skills.

Penguins-

Talbot-Crosby-Satan
Fedotenko-Malkin-Sykora
Cooke-Staal-Kennedy
Dupuis-Zigomanis-Godard

Orpik-Letang
Goligoski-Boucher
Scuderi-Gill

Sabourin

Wild-

Bouchard-Koivu-Nolan
Veilleux-Sheppard-Miettinen
Brunette-Belanger-Burns
Boogard-Pouliot-Clutterbuck

Johnsson-Schultz
Skoula-Zidlicky
Reitz-Bergeron

Backstrom

GO PENS!