PITTSBURGH — Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, the No. 1 pick in the 2003 NHL draft, was recalled from the minors Monday by the Pittsburgh Penguins and is expected to become their starting goaltender.

The Penguins, currently last in the Atlantic Division, play the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday night after losing both games on a Florida road trip last week and five of their last seven.

Fleury has been the best goalie in the AHL this season, going 10-0-2 at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with a 1.57 goals-against average and .939 save percentage. He was with the Penguins for two short stints earlier this season and was 1-1-1 with a 3.40 goals-against average.

Until now, the Penguins have held off bringing up Fleury because he could earn up to $3 million in performance bonuses — a hefty sum for a franchise that owner-player Mario Lemieux estimates will lose $7 million this season despite a sharp attendance increase.

But with the Penguins near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings despite significantly upgrading their roster last summer, general manager Craig Patrick apparently believes the club can't wait any longer to find a reliable goaltender.

Neither Jocelyn Thibault (1-7-2, 4.38 goals-against average) nor Sebastien Caron (5-3-3, 3.95 goals-against average) has been able to win consistently, and Thibault has only one victory in 12 games after being one of the Penguins' major offseason pickups.

With Fleury now on the roster, the Penguins may look to make a deal to cut a payroll that is up about $10 million from their 2003-04 team, which finished last in the NHL overall standings with a payroll of about $21 million.

Fleury began that season as the Penguins' starter and played well for the first month of the season, but was shipped to Wilkes-Barre after it became evident the team would not be a contender. He finished 4-14-2 with a 3.64 goals-against average in the NHL that season.