Editor's note: Effectively immediately, the Penguins Q&A will appear each weekday through the end of the Penguins' season.

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Q: What is the Penguins record for shorthanded goals allowed in one season? With Evgeni Malkin out there, the record will be broken.

Paul Morosin, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

MOLINARI: The Penguins, who allowed a franchise-record 22 shorthanded goals during Mario Lemieux's rookie season in 1984-85, needed less than 38 minutes Saturday to give up their first of 2008-09.

Whether deploying Malkin on the point of the No. 1 unit will lead to the Penguins allowing 23 or more is conjecture - the thinking here is that the current record is safe - the perils of using any forward on the point have been well-documented for decades. The injuries to Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney prompted coach Michel Therrien and his staff to make a move that might not have gotten such serious consideration if those two were healthy.

The issue is not whether Malkin has the puck-moving and shooting skills to be effective when the power play is set up in the attacking zone, but how he will fare when the penalty-killers get the puck and decide to try to generate a scoring chance. The vast majority of forwards simply aren't as effective as a defenseman in that situation, so they are much more likely to be victimized by an even-numbered or odd-man break.

Malkin is hardly the first forward the Penguins have used on the point - Martin Straka and Alexei Kovalev, among others, got extensive work there - and, despite the risks of having him there, circumstances make that a reasonable move at this time. Then again, the Penguins' current shortage of capable point men made the decision to keep rookie Alex Goligoski in street clothes Saturday more than a little surprising, a point underscored when he got a man-advantage goal as time was about to expire in the Penguins' 3-1 loss yesterday.

As a side note, those who back the idea of making Malkin and Sidney Crosby part of the regular penalty-killing rotation - a sentiment not shared here - no doubt were encouraged when Malkin exploited an Ottawa turnover Saturday to score a shorthanded goal.

(For those with an interest in the flip side of the shorthanded-goals equation, the Penguins' single-season high is 21, a league-record 13 of which were scored by Lemieux, in 1988-89.)

Q: Because of Gonchar's surgery, will Darryl Sydor finally get to become a top-four defenseman on this team?

Greg Wood, Frostburg, Md.

MOLINARI: Gonchar's absence got Sydor into the lineup for the Penguins' 4-3 overtime victory Saturday, although he surrendered his spot to Goligoski yesterday.

Sydor will remain a significant part of the blue-line personnel mix for at least as long as Gonchar and Whitney are out because, as the Penguins were reminded long before the regular season opened, teams need more than a half-dozen NHL-caliber defensemen to get through a season. Still, there's no reason to think he will be a top-four defenseman for this club.

His ice time (13 minutes, 31 seconds) in the opener was the lowest of any Penguins defenseman, and he and partner Mark Eaton were the only ones to log fewer than 20 minutes. Sydor is steady and capable - qualities that pretty much guarantee a market for him if general manager Ray Shero decides a trade is in order later this season - but at age 36, figures to be most effective and valuable in a relatively limited role.

Q: When Vancouver named Roberto Luongo captain, I was quite interested in the decision. What is the foundation of the rule that Luongo cannot wear the 'C'?

Moe Sharma, Milton, Ontario, Canada

MOLINARI: The rule that prohibits goaltenders (as well as any "playing manager or playing coach") from serving as captains dates to the late 1940s and apparently was brought about by the actions of Bill Durnan, a goaltender and captain of the Montreal Canadiens.

While Durnan was awfully good at stopping pucks -- he won six Vezina trophies as the NHL's top goalie - he also was accused of causing a lot of unnecessary delays by disputing (or at least seeking explanations of) referees' calls. Rule 6.1 was a quick and foolproof way to end that, since it stipulates only captains (or, per Rule 6.2, an alternate, when the captain is not on the ice) are allowed to speak with the referee. (A rule that, of course, is enforced even less often than obstruction-related infractions were in the first half of this decade.)

The Canucks' decision to publicly identify Luongo as their captain, something to which the league apparently did not object, was largely ceremonial, because he will not handle the on-ice duties that go with the position. Vancouver will designate alternate captains to discuss rulings with the officials and participate in those all-important ceremonial faceoffs.