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Q: I was wondering if you could ask the NHL if they would consider putting a second line behind the goal line. The amount of white space between the two lines) would be the diameter of the puck. Hence, if the puck were to touch this second line it would definitely be a goal because it would have completely crossed the goal line. I know it might be a little confusing for the referee and/or goal judge to add a second line, but it would definitely help to goal reviews.

Eric Wong, Mountain View, Calif.

MOLINARI: Chalk up another one for Q&A readers, so many of whom come up with solutions (some of which prove to be viable, some of which don't) to issues that arise during games and off the ice. The high-ranking league official to whom the above suggestion -- which you submitted many hours before a report out of Canada said the NHL quietly experimented with just such a "verification line" last spring -- was forwarded characterized it as "a good creative idea that might just work." If the league would, in fact, adopt that idea, perhaps the second marking could be formally designated the "Wong Line."

Q: Considering his skills as a two-way player, along with his excellent penalty killing skills, do you think it's plausible that Jordan Staal be a legitimate Selke Trophy candidate within the next few years, despite being a third-line center?

Chris Stinson, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

MOLINARI: Considering that the Selke is supposed to go to the best defensive forward in the NHL, regardless of whether he scores 150 points or none, it shouldn't matter, for purposes of this discussion, that Staal can contribute at both ends of the ice. There's no question, though, that a lot of Selke voters are cognizant of the offensive statistics of the candidates, and those probably get factored into some of the decision-making, even if it happens inadvertently.

Happily for Staal, that should only help him when he starts to get serious Selke consideration, which shouldn't be very far into the future. He already has, at age 19, all the qualities -- speed, size, strength, hockey sense, etc. -- needed to be a premier defensive forward, and has a demonstrated willingness to work hard, which might be the most important attribute a Selke candidate can possess. For a player his age to be a staple on the Penguins' penalty-killing unit when there are so many players capable of filling that roles says a lot about the regard coach Michel Therrien has for his defensive performance.

It's far from certain that Staal ever will match the 29 goals he scored as a rookie, and the decline in his offensive output prompted more than a few Q&A readers to suggest he should be deemed expendable in any high-impact trade general manager Ray Shero was inclined to make to bolster his lineup for the playoffs. Fortunately for the franchise, there's no indication Shero ever considered parting with Staal. Or will think about doing so anytime in the foreseeable future.

Q: At the end of last Friday's game, after the fighting stopped but before Evgeni Malkin was escorted from the ice, he was holding a broken chain and apparently looking around the ice for a medallion that may have been on it. Do you know what it was and if he recovered it?

Marylynn, Gibsonia

MOLINARI: It was a cross that Malkin said (through interpreter George Birman) had great deal of significance to him, although he did not elaborate. And he did, in fact, find it.