Marc-Andre Fleury's long day Monday was just beginning.

Part of Michel Therrien's success as a coach can be traced to how little, if any, energy or effort he wastes in the execution of his duties.

Pretty much everything his players work on during practice is directly related to game situations, for example, and the impact of virtually every word he utters in public -- especially in post-game settings -- is calculated long before he says it.

Onlookers might smile when he triggers an occasional second-language trapdoor -- like saying that decisions are made for the long-term good of the "horgazination" or declining to make "comparations" between players -- but there is no question Therrien wields his words with a purpose.

Which means that his criticism of goalie Marc-Andre Fleury after the Penguins' 6-5 loss on Long Island Monday was not rooted strictly in anger or disappointment that a valuable point, if not two, had slipped away.

Oh, Therrien is quite passionate about his work and there were times earlier in his coaching career when emotion seemed to override good judgment. But there has been little evidence of that during his 14-plus months behind the Penguins' bench.

There have, however, been several instances of him using the media to deliver a message to one or more players beginning with his classic diatribe Jan. 10, 2006, when he proclaimed that, "I'm really starting to believe [the Penguins' defense corps'] goal is to be the worst defensive squad in the league. And they're doing such a great job at being the worst." Clearly, he was speaking to Fleury with his comments after the Islanders game.

However, while Therrien's intent was transparent -- it's tough to misinterpret "Fleury was not good. This is four games in a row that he's given up way too many goals" -- it remains to be seen if he chose the correct method of motivating Fleury.

(He can only hope Fleury reacts better than the Penguins did after his scalding critique last January. The next night, they gave up a goal 10 seconds after the opening faceoff en route to what became a 6-1 loss in Columbus.)

While some players respond best to a pat on the back, Therrien obviously determined that a very public kick in the ego was a better way to get through to Fleury.

That is a decidedly different approach than he has taken this season with other players who went through longer, less productive, stretches than the one that Fleury experienced in the games leading up to that loss on Long Island.

It shouldn't take long to determine whether Therrien has pushed the right buttons with Fleury, who had won his previous five starts and was 12-0-2 in his previous 14.

If Fleury polishes a few of the rough edges that had appeared on his game, calling him out will be validated and Therrien will have gone a long way toward making sure his team gets into the playoffs.

Conversely, if Therrien's criticism damages Fleury's confidence -- a critical component in any goaltender's game -- it could go down as one of the most costly errors in judgment he has made in his time with the Penguins.

The only thing certain at this point is that Therrien knew exactly what he was trying to accomplish when he publicly skewered his No. 1 goaltender.

	Mark Recchi celebrates No. 500 last month.

Memorabilia makers; memorabilia collectors

Most players save pucks associated with important moments, whether it's a first shutout or goal or hat trick or some milestone achievement as they get older.

Mark Recchi, for example, has the puck with which he scored his 500th NHL goal Jan. 26, and he didn't stop there. Recchi also saved the sweater he was wearing and the stick he used.

He did the same for No. 400, but figures that getting to 500 will go down as the most important individual feat of his career.

"That's probably going to be it," he said. "Five hundred goals is pretty significant."

So is No. 1, which is why Sidney Crosby didn't settle for just a puck when he scored his first in the league; he got the sticks Recchi and Ziggy Palffy were using when they assisted him on it.

Crosby also collects sweaters with particular meaning. He gave his father the one he wore in his NHL debut -- "That one's pretty special," he said -- and has held onto those he wore while representing Canada in international competitions, such as the world junior championships.

"You grow up getting up at 3 in the morning to watch [world junior games] from Russia, to have that jersey is pretty unique," he said.

So far, defenseman Ryan Whitney has confined his collection to the pucks used to score his first goal in college, the American Hockey League and the NHL, but he plans to expand it.

"[The pucks are] not plaqued up or anything," he said. "But hopefully someday, I'll have a room or something with a bunch of players' sticks, like [those of] Sid and [Recchi] that you can collect along the way."

Are you Sidding me?

Maxime Talbot got the winning goal in the Penguins' 3-2 victory against Washington last Sunday when he beat Capitals goalie Brent Johnson from just inside the left dot while dropping to one knee.

No matter how it looked, however, Talbot wasn't losing his balance as he scored. It turns out that he, like Crosby, is quite comfortable launching pucks from that position.

"That's how I shoot, Brett Hull-style," he said. "Put your knee on the ground, and you can put a little more weight into it."

Talbot acknowledged, though, that Crosby is a bit more adept at it than he is, adding that, "I have to work on it a little bit."