Q: What is your take is on the constant "Crosby draws unwarranted penalties" complaint from opposing coaches? Is it too much to ask for an opposing coach to say "Hey, you know what? The Penguins outplayed us today." It seems like every game we've won this postseason, Bryan Murray and now Tom Renney have had something to say about the officiating. I would think if I were a coach, I would be more worried about how my team played dead (Murray) or gave up four unanswered goals (Renney, in Game 1) than about questionable penalties. I guess my question is, do you think Crosby is getting all of the calls?

Andy Schulz, Bridgeville

MOLINARI: Clearly, the NHL allows -- heck, encourages -- Crosby to dive with impunity, secure in the knowledge that each and every incident will be rewarded with a Penguins power play. After all, it's hard to image anything that would serve the league's interest better than having the team in its largest market knocked out of the playoffs. You know, the team that's based just blocks from the league office in Manhattan? (Sorry for trying to inject a wisp of logic into an issue where so many people seem to have no interest in applying it.)

But really, when Murray got nothing more than a verbal slap on the wrist after he called the integrity of the league into question after the Penguins lost their regular-season finale, why would anyone really expect the NHL office to act simply because the player who has been given -- and willingly accepted -- much of the responsibility for carrying the banner of the post-lockout league is routinely slimed by opposing coaches and players?

That said, there's no question Crosby gets the benefit of the doubt on some calls. So do most of the NHL's best players, along with the top performers in pretty much every sport. It also is reasonable to assume that Crosby has, at some point, dramatized the effect of an infraction committed against him, especially by snapping his head back. That doesn't mean it's a significant, let alone regular, feature of his repertoire, as some suggest, and membership in the club of elite players -- or ordinary ones, for that matter -- guilty of similar acts isn't very exclusive. Happily, the number of guys who are hypocritical about it and willing to verbally skewer an opponent for something they've done themselves is a lot smaller.

Finally, Crosby's reputation and image still suffer from his incessant yapping and complaining to officials during his rookie season. While he has, for the most part, grown out of that -- remember, he was all of 18 at the time -- those who seek to tear him down, for whatever reason, aren't really going to care about such details.

As for Murray and Renney griping about the way games are called, whether or not their specific complaints pertain to Crosby, that's usually nothing more than a transparent attempt to get officials to see things their way in future games. Kind of like a baseball manager arguing a call with an umpire; the decision being disputed isn't going to be reversed, but perhaps the guy who is complaining will be able to get a more favorable ruling on the next close play.

And that is not something limited to Murray and Renney; pretty much every coach at every level has griped about officiating at one time or another -- usually after losses, because it's a lot easier to be magnanimous after your teams wins -- and probably will do so for as long as the game is played.

Q: What do you think of Michel Therrien's modification of the defense pairings, swapping Kris Letang for Rob Scuderi to play with Hal Gill, specifically for the Rangers series?

Paul, Washington, D.C.

MOLINARI: The inclination here would have been to keep the previous pairings -- Brooks Orpik-Sergei Gonchar, Scuderi-Ryan Whitney, Hal Gill-Letang -- intact for the start of the Rangers series, mostly because they were fairly effective against Ottawa during Round 1. While there obviously is nothing wrong with having a contingency plan -- in fact, every coaching staff should, for just about every situation -- that doesn't mean it has to be implemented as soon as it's devised.

Therrien, however, decided it was better to be proactive, because he felt it was important to have a couple of sets of defensemen who could be deployed against the Rangers' top two lines. Letang presumably was knocked out of that mix because he is a rookie, even though his defensive work has been pretty solid this season.

Therrien expressed satisfaction with the performance of his reconfigured pairings in Game 1 and they obviously played a significant role in the Penguins' 2-0 victory in Game 2 yesterday, but if any of them stumble or if Renney makes a personnel adjustment that Therrien decides calls for a response, no one should be surprised if the defensive units he used at the start of the series aren't the same ones he's using when it ends.