Tony Gutierrez, Associated Press Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco slaps a puck away from Sidney Crosby last night. Click photo for larger image.

DALLAS -- Proclaiming that "I'm just an autograph dweeb," Mark Cuban emerged from the Penguins' locker room after the team's win against Dallas last night and said he has no current involvement with the ownership or future of the Penguins.

"I'm strictly here as a fan," said Cuban, the Mt. Lebanon native and billionaire who owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and last year was a small part of a group that made a bid to buy the Penguins.

"I have no idea about the status of what's going on," Cuban said of the Penguins, who are negotiating with state and local officials toward construction of a new arena but also are considering a move to Kansas City.

Asked if he might step in to help, Cuban said, "There's nothing I can do. Unless the team's for sale, it's all speculation, and they said the team's off the market."

He declined to say whether he might get involved if the team goes back up for sale.

"I don't know," he said. "Woulda, coulda, shoulda."

Well, Cuban might have been doing a little bit behind the scenes.

"I was kind of negotiating with Evgeni [Malkin]," Cuban cracked, referring to the Penguins' Russian rookie. "But Geno doesn't speak a whole lot of English, so our negotiations didn't go very far."

Happiness is ...

He savored his whirlwind three days as an All-Star in Dallas this week -- except for being shut out in the game Wednesday --but Penguins center and NHL leading scorer Sidney Crosby was equally happy to get back to his routine and his teammates.

"Obviously, it was a busy three days, and it was nice to meet new guys and share that experience, but it's also nice to see the guys you spend every day with," Crosby said. "And it's nice with the dads."

For their games at Dallas and tonight in Phoenix, the Penguins are holding their first fathers' trip, with the dads of most players and some staffers joining the traveling party.

Fan of 4 lines

Although the Penguins got Mark Eaton back after he missed nearly three months with a dislocated wrist and recalled Noah Welch after a four-day assignment with Wilkes-Barre, Therrien didn't entertain the notion of dressing seven defenseman.

It's nothing against Welch, who has played in 27 NHL games and was scratched for the game against the Stars. It has everything to do with how the coach likes to deploy his forwards.

"We like to use four lines," Therrien said. "People ask, what's the reason we're capable of maintaining the energy that we've got in the third period. Yeah, conditioning is a part of it. But the other thing is most of the time we rotate four lines."

One for the dads

Therrien expects backup goaltender Jocelyn Thibault to get the start tonight in Phoenix. Probably.

"It's a 99 percent chance it's going to be Thibault," Therrien said.

It makes sense on back-to-back road games, and Thibault has played well against the Coyotes in his career, but there's another factor.

"The fathers are here and you want to be fair with the players," Therrien said. "I think that's important."