Behind The Net
Sabourin Seizes Spotlight
By Bob Grove

Dany Sabourin's short-term goal, of course, is to hold up the goaltending end of the Penguins' defensive game. If he's successful, Sabourin could realize long-term professional benefits.

The 27-year-old from Val d'Or, Quebec has been a very good goaltender at the minor league level through his career, but Marc-Andre Fleury's ankle injury last month has given Sabourin the chance for which he's been waiting: to be a No. 1 goaltender, albeit temporarily, in the National Hockey League.

Fleury was arguably playing his best hockey of the season when he was injured Dec. 6 in Calgary, and a diagnosis of six to eight weeks of rest and rehabilitation presented a clear picture for Pittsburgh. Fleury would be unavailable until at least the All-Star break, and it would be up to Sabourin to keep the Penguins on track for a playoff berth.

If the Penguins emerge from this potential problem with their post-season goals intact, Sabourin will not only validate the team's two-year contract offer to him this past summer but also firmly establish himself as dependable on the game's biggest stage.

That's something we really don't yet know about Sabourin, despite his solid play before Fleury's injury. Before making his first start for the injured Fleury Dec. 8 in Vancouver - where he played just nine games behind Roberto Luongo last season - Sabourin sported a 2.34 goals-against average and .914 save percentage in 12 games this season.

Those numbers were better than Fleury's at that point, but the number that always invites questions is the one that charts Sabourin's NHL experience. Since being drafted by the Calgary Flames in the fourth round of the 1998 Entry Draft, Sabourin had played only 30 NHL games entering Christmas week.

Sabourin played very well in a 2-1 shootout win over the Canucks during his first start with Fleury sidelined. He was yanked during a poor team performance two nights later in Philadelphia and was solid in a home loss to Ottawa two nights after that. His backup, Ty Conklin, has more NHL experience than Sabourin, but clearly the Penguins are counting on Sabourin to consistently give them a chance to win.

Coach Michel Therrien believes in Sabourin, having coached him in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL in 2005-06, when Sabourin won the Baz Bastien Memorial Trophy as the American Hockey League's best goaltender. Sabourin had superb numbers the previous season, when he split time between the Wheeling Nailers (1.67, .942) and Baby Penguins (2.22, .921).

Sabourin's performance at the ECHL and AHL levels, including terrific play during the post-season in both leagues, demonstrated that he had nothing to prove at those respective levels. That got him promoted to the NHL, full-time, for the first time last season with the Canucks.

The next step for Sabourin is to prove an NHL team can count on him at critical times. His play earlier this year had him headed that way, but that momentum can all be erased - or it can all be underscored - while Fleury is mending. It's nothing less than the most important two-month stretch of Sabourin's career.