Brooks Orpik understands the message that was being sent when Penguins coach Michel Therrien made him a healthy scratch for three games in a row.

Frankly, it would be pretty tough to misinterpret it.

Nonetheless, Orpik said yesterday that he still is not entirely clear on why he fell out of favor with the coaching staff.

"I don't really know, specifically," he said. "But obviously, when you're not in the lineup, they're not completely satisfied with the way you're playing."

That issue is moot now. Orpik will be back in the Penguins' defensive mix, courtesy of the torn anterior cruciate ligament in Mark Eaton's right knee that will keep him out of the lineup indefinitely, when Washington visits Mellon Arena tonight.

Eaton's injury will have to be surgically repaired at some point, but delaying that operation until after the season -- which presumably would shorten the amount of time Eaton is out of the lineup -- has not been ruled out.

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Scouting report

• Matchup: Washington Capitals at Penguins, 7:38 p.m. today, Mellon Arena.
• TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh; WXDX-FM (105.9).
• Probable goaltenders: Ty Conklin for Penguins. Olaf Kolzig for Capitals.
• Penguins: Own 14-2 record at home against Washington during past eight seasons. ... LW Gary Roberts has four points in past two games after being shut out in previous eight. ... Are 2-4 when D Sergei Gonchar scores goal.
• Capitals: Are 6-10-2 on road. ... C Viktor Kozlov took 20-game goalless streak into game against Tampa Bay lat night. ... Were 0-17-2 when trailing after second period before facing Lightning.
• Hidden stat: Capitals had outshot 25 opponents before last night after doing it just 20 times in 2006-07.

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"There are some decisions that need to be made," Eaton said. "I need to educate myself [about the injury] a little bit. I'll talk with the doctors and trainers about their experiences with ACLs."

Eaton has been playing opposite Gonchar on the Penguins' top defensive pairing, and Gonchar acknowledged that losing his partner is a significant setback.

"Obviously, I'm going to miss him a lot," Gonchar said. "We've played together since pretty much Day 1 of this season. We've played well. An understanding is there; we have a feeling for each other.

"He positions himself very well, he blocks a lot of shots, he stays back for me. All the things that people don't really pay attention to, he does."

Rob Scuderi, another defenseman whose forte is playing in his own zone, will move into Eaton's spot. Because Scuderi is content to focus on his defensive duties, Gonchar still will have the latitude to get involved in the offense.

And while Scuderi said he is "just keeping the seat warm" for Eaton, Therrien believes his style will provide "the same fit" with Gonchar that Eaton's did.

"[Gonchar's] offensive-minded, I'm defensive-minded," Scuderi said. "Hopefully, we just level each other out."

Gonchar played a peripheral role in the Orpik situation, because when he returned to the lineup Dec. 5 after missing three games because of a groin strain, the Penguins were left with seven healthy defensemen, one more than dresses for most games.

Therrien subsequently announced a plan to rotate five of those defensemen -- everyone except Gonchar and Eaton -- out of the lineup, one at a time, unless he opted to dress all of them for a particular game.

Orpik was the first to spend an evening in the press box, followed by Darryl Sydor. After the rotation went on hold for a few games, it kicked in again, and it was Orpik who sat out. Followed by Orpik. And Orpik.

Kind of hard to miss the trend there.

"We had good intentions about making a rotation," Therrien said. "We were honest with our [players], but at the same time we were ready to [implement] that rotation because we figured everybody was going to play well.

"When everybody's playing well, it's tough for us to take somebody out. That was the purpose of having a rotation. If everybody's playing their game, we're going to have a rotation. On the other hand, if you see a guy whose game is slipping, you have to make a decision."

Therrien did, and that decision was to have Orpik spend the past three games in the press box.

"It's really frustrating," Orpik said. "There's nothing else besides that. I think they know how I feel about it."

That seems like a safe assumption, but Therrien offered a list of things Orpik can do to avoid a recurrence:

"Be dependable on the ice. Make a good first pass, have [good positioning], play solid defensively. That's what we're looking for. When he's at his best, that's what he's doing. He doesn't turn the puck over, he makes the right decisions with the puck, he's not playing on his heels.

"We don't want him to run around. We want to make sure he's in good position. When contact is there, it's there. That's what we're looking for."