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Q: When Sidney Crosby returns, do you think the Pens will alter their plans to allow Evgeni Malkin to still get the quality minutes, shifts and responsibilities he has taken over while Sid has been out? To me, he seems to really enjoy the spotlight and has taken his game to a level that we have only seen from (Mario Lemieux).

Mike Bair, Avonmore, Pa.

MOLINARI: There's no disputing that Malkin has responded brilliantly to the extra responsibilities he was given when Crosby was injured; his play over the past five-plus weeks has met, if not exceeded, even the most outrageous expectations anyone could have had for him. That said, let's have a moratorium on the he's-just-like-Lemieux comparisons some folks seem eager to make when discussing Malkin and/or Crosby. Yes, they're both great players, and figure to get even better in coming seasons. But they have not gotten particularly close to the level Lemieux reached when he was (reasonably) healthy and in his prime.

As for Crosby, he averaged about 21 minutes of ice time per game before being injured and, assuming he's physically able to step back into same niche he filled earlier, that number shouldn't drop. Those minutes will have to come from somewhere, obviously, but just how many will come out of Malkin's allotment remains to be seen.

Certainly it's difficult to imagine that Malkin will lose his place on the No. 1 power play and, while having Crosby back might cost Malkin a little even-strength work, one has to think the Crosby and Malkin lines will get roughly the same amount of five-on-five work, so it could be the third- or fourth-liners who really feel the playing-time pinch from Crosby's return.

Q: Can you explain the tie-breaking procedures in the NHL? It's possible we could be in a three-way (maybe four-way) tie for first in the East. Say New Jersey, Ottawa and the Pens have identical records at the end of the season. If we lose the tiebreaker to New Jersey but win it over Ottawa, and Ottawa wins the tiebreaker with New Jersey, who would be in first place?

Dan, Pittsburgh

MOLINARI: The NHL's tie-breaking criteria are the same, regardless of how many teams are involved. They are applied in the order below and can eliminate teams along the way, and include:

1) Victories.

2) Head-to-head competition.

3) Goal-differential.

The twist when there are three (or more) teams tied comes in the head-to-head tiebreaker. In the example you cited, it would not matter how the Penguins fared against the Devils or the Senators individually, but how they did against them collectively.

The tie would be broken by taking the Penguins' combined record against Ottawa and New Jersey, the Devils' record against the Penguins and Senators and Ottawa's record against the Penguins and New Jersey. Whichever team earned the highest percentage of possible points wins the tiebreaker.