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Q: I completely understand that Sidney Crosby is a fearless competitor (I love him for this characteristic), but with Sergei Gonchar, Evgeni Malkin, Max Talbot, and Tyler Kennedy all down, what in the heck is Crosby thinking, to engage in a fight? Crosby is smart enough to realize what is best for the team, and if he goes down because of a hand injury from a fight, that becomes unacceptable.

Kevin Novak, Atlanta

MOLINARI: It was not a rational, calculated decision that led to Crosby pummeling defenseman Marek Zidlicky of Minnesota during the Penguins' 2-1 loss to the Wild at Mellon Arena last Saturday. It was raw emotion.

The sequence began when Zidlicky tripped Crosby, sending him feet-first into the boards. That was all too similar, Crosby said, to what happened against Tampa Bay on Jan. 18, 2008, when he sustained a high ankle sprain that knocked him out of the lineup for weeks.

Losing Crosby for seven minutes (he and Zidlicky each got a minor penalty, as well as a fighting major) during a close game obviously was a negative for the Penguins, especially when, as you noted, they already were missing some pretty productive players.

In theory, perhaps Crosby, as captain and a team leader, should have shown more restraint, perhaps taken down Zidlicky's number and looked for a point later in the game when he could exact a little revenge without hindering his club's comeback attempt. Realistically, though, if what Zidlicky did punched the buttons in Crosby that Crosby said it did, it probably would have been a bit much to expect him to not react the way he did.

Q: Given the development of Alex Goligoski and Kris Letang, is it possible Gonchar will be the odd man out? He is getting long in the tooth and will command some serious dollars that might be spent better elsewhere.

George Gregg, Lancaster

MOLINARI: Goligoski's strong two-way play might have been the most pleasant surprise during the first month of the 2009-10 season. While it's risky to put too much emphasis on plus-minus ratings, his team-best plus-12 is a pretty fair indication of how he's performed to this point. And while Letang can play better than he has to date, there's every reason to believe that he'll continue to develop into a quality defenseman at this level.

Factor in Gonchar's age (35) and his current contract ($5 million), as well as concerns that the salary-cap ceiling will drop next season, and it's easy to understand why some might see him as expendable, and it's not out of the question that the Penguins might not be able to keep him. That certainly would be the case if the ceiling drops dramatically or if Gonchar is adamant about getting more years or money than the Penguins deem it reasonable to give him.

However, he still logs more ice time than anyone on the team, quarterbacks the power play and contributes at both ends of the ice, as well as being a respected presence in the locker room. If general manager Ray Shero doesn't bring Gonchar back after this season, it will be because circumstances simply made it impractical, if not impossible, to do so, not because the Penguins didn't think he could be a positive force for at least a couple more years.

Penguins Plus, a blog by Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson, is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.