You think Marian Hossa is frustrated because the puck isn't going in for him? Imagine how frustrated he would be if the Penguins weren't winning and sitting so pretty in their playoff series with the Ottawa Senators.

Look at it another way.

The Penguins won the first two games at home despite getting no goals from Hossa. How much more dangerous will they be once he starts scoring?

"When they do start going in for him," Penguins coach Michel Therrien said, "I think it will be pretty scary."

It's not as if Hossa isn't contributing to the Penguins' cause. He had helpers on each of Ryan Malone's late goals in Game 2 Friday night after the Senators had threatened to make a series of it by wiping out the Penguins' 3-0 lead. Malone made the first play, pouncing on the rebound of a Hossa shot and beating goaltender Martin Gerber with a terrific wraparound shot to break the 3-3 tie. But the second goal was all Hossa, who dug Sergei Gonchar's clearing pass off the wall and fed Malone for the open-netter that just might have sapped the life out of the Ottawa club, although we won't know that for sure until Game 3 tomorrow night at the Senators' Scotiabank Place.

"He doesn't cheat because he's not scoring," an appreciative Therrien said of Hossa. "Some guys will take chances because they want to prove they're 50-goal scorers. Not him. He's working both sides of the ice. He's working so hard every shift. That's all you can ask of any player."

That's all well and good, but you, I, Therrien and the Penguins know the truth: Hossa wasn't brought here at the trade deadline for his assists, his responsible two-way play and his hard work.

"He was brought here to score goals," linemate Pascal Dupuis said. "He will. I'm positive, he will."

Hossa took seven whacks at Gerber in Game 1, another four in Game 2. But his best scoring chance didn't result in a shot on goal. It came early in the third period Friday night when he couldn't handle Dupuis' perfect set-up pass on Gerber's doorstep. Dupuis took it just fine -- "That's hockey; they all don't go in," he said, shrugging -- but Hossa, not so well. It wasn't hard to read his face as the puck went off his stick, careening out of control. There was plenty of disappointment and anger on that Slovak mug.

"It is frustrating, but you don't let it get into your head," Hossa said. "You just get ready for the next shift. You know your chances will come. That's the big thing. I'm getting great chances. Our line is getting great chances."

If Hossa is squeezing his stick just a touch, can you blame him? The man is trying to fit in with new teammates on a hockey club that looks as if it could make a long playoff run. He wants to justify the trade that sent Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and a No. 1 draft pick to Atlanta and prove he's the right guy -- at long last -- to play right wing with the one and only Sidney Crosby. He's playing for a big-money contract. And he's trying to shed a reputation for being largely invisible in the postseason.

That first issue is no issue at all. The other players seem to think the world of Hossa even if he has scored just three goals -- one an empty-netter -- in 12 games with them. As for issues two, three and four, those should take care of themselves in the days ahead. Somewhere along the line, Hossa figures to win the Penguins a game or two or three, which would more than justify general manager Ray Shero's rent-a-player gamble. He'll get his dough after the season -- either here or elsewhere -- because he's 29, he's in his prime and he has already scored 299 NHL goals. And that not-so-flattering playoff rep? How can Hossa not build on his weak .67 points-per-game average playing on Crosby's line and the Penguins' top power-play unit? Crosby is flying -- what high ankle sprain? -- and had four assists to go with his 11 shots in the first two games. The power play went 4 for 11 after a slow start.

"When you have a player of his skill and talent," Therrien said, speaking of Hossa again, "you know they're going to start to go in."

Dupuis, who also played with Hossa in Atlanta and came in the same trade, is sure of it.

"He's such a smart player and so strong on the puck. Even fooling around in practice, we try to knock him off the puck. You can't do it. It's like the puck is glued to his stick."

The last words are saved for Crosby.

That only seems right, doesn't it?

Crosby is the captain, and Hossa is on his wing.

"He's a goal-scorer. You can't teach that," Sid the Kid said.

"It's only a matter of time."