Penguins defenseman Mark Eaton joked yesterday that he has been playing a college schedule the past couple of years -- 35 games in 2006-07, 36 and holding this season.

There isn't anything funny, however, about the way Eaton had the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee torn during the Penguins' 4-2 victory against Boston Sunday at Mellon Arena.

Bruins forward Marco Sturm knocked Eaton's legs out from under him, causing the injury that will keep Eaton out of the lineup indefinitely.

Eaton, though, declined to vent about Sturm's actions, which did not result in a penalty.

"It's one of those things," he said. "Hindsight's 20-20. That's the last thing on my mind. I'm just focusing on trying to get healthy again and get back as soon as I can."

Goalie Ty Conklin will make his third start in the past four games when Washington visits Mellon Arena tonight.

He beat Boston twice in a span of four days, playing well enough that coach Michel Therrien said the decision to use Conklin, not Dany Sabourin, against the Capitals was easy.

"He's earned it," Therrien said. "He played well last game. We always make decisions [based on] results. When a guy plays well, he's going to play."

Conklin was summoned from the Penguins' farm team in Wilkes-Barre after No. 1 goalie Marc-Andre Fleury got a high ankle sprain during a game in Calgary Dec. 6.

Penguins forward Ryan Malone, who missed the past four games because of an infected cut on his left ankle, participated in the team's hour-long workout at Southpointe yesterday and pronounced himself ready to play. Probably.

"We have to see how the ankle reacts and what Coach wants, and all that stuff," Malone said. " I'm still taking medication to make sure the infection is not there, but I think that, for the most part, I'm ready to go."

Center Maxime Talbot, out since Dec. 6 because of a high ankle sprain, skated on his own after practice, but Therrien said there is no target date for his return to the lineup.

Center Sidney Crosby and defenseman Ryan Whitney made it onto the ice 20 minutes after practice began yesterday.

That cost them some serious abuse from their teammates. Whether it will cost them money in the form of fines from management or the team's kangaroo court remains to be seen.

"I'm going to talk to them, for sure," Therrien said.

The trouble began, Crosby said, when his private flight out of Halifax, Nova Scotia, was delayed because of customs issues. He already had arranged to pick up Whitney, who had returned to Boston for the Christmas break, so they were together when the plane finally touched down here about 10 minutes before practice started.

Crosby made a desperate, lead-footed effort to get them to the rink as quickly as possible, but succeeded only in reducing the number of drills they missed.

And while Whitney was pretty much a victim of circumstances, he isn't holding Crosby accountable for how the trip back played out.

"He was a little late," Whitney said. "But, as he said, he doesn't fly the planes."

Washington winger Alex Ovechkin has been one of the NHL's elite goal-scorers since he entered the league in 2005, and now is trying to become its first 60-goal man since Mario Lemieux of the Penguins got 69 in 1995-96.

Ovechkin had 25 goals in 36 games before the Capitals played Tampa Bay last night -- that's a 57-goal pace -- and had a league-high 202 shots on goal. Indeed, his willingness to put the puck on goal at every opportunity is part of the reason Ovechkin is a serious threat to score 60.

"He shoots the puck," Bruce Boudreau, who became the Capitals' coach yesterday after losing ownership removed the interim tag, told The Washington Post.

"It's always a possibility when you shoot the puck. That's one constant with him. When you shoot the puck, the law of averages say you're going to score."

It certainly has worked out that way so far, because Ovechkin has gone two games without a goal just once this season.

Crosby was selected The Canadian Press male athlete of the year yesterday, beating out the Phoenix Suns' Steve Nash and the Colorado Rockies' Jeff Francis.

Winning the Lionel Conacher Award capped a season that included a Hart Trophy as the NHL's MVP, the Pearson Award as the league's outstanding player according to his peers, and the Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion. The native of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, won the award in a poll of sports editors and broadcasters across the country and is the first hockey player to capture the honor since Lemieux in 1993.