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Q: Before last Saturday's game, had the Pens at any time given Max Talbot a serious tryout on Sidney Crosby's wing? Max brings so many things to the ice, but I think we've all assumed he wasn't particularly well-suited to be a point-producing, top-six forward, despite being a rather prolific point-scorer in junior. He looked very comfortable with Sid against the Blues, and put in one of the better performances of the evening. Might we be wrong? Could Max be the winger we keep looking for beside Sid?

Chris Parfitt, Plainfield, Ind.

MOLINARI: If memory serves, Talbot did get spot duty alongside Crosby last season, and the point has been made in this space that he is a worthy candidate to play on the left side of the No. 1 line, especially if going outside the organization for someone to fill that role isn't a viable option.

But while it is true that Talbot put up a lot of points in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League -- he had 98 n 51 games during his final season with Gatineau -- he never has shown the consistent scoring touch that would be ideal in someone working with a playmaker of Crosby's caliber. He skates well, competes ferociously on every shift and has scored on some highlight-reel efforts, but there's no evidence that, game-in and game-out, Talbot can be counted on to produce goals.

The other factor that mitigates against using him on the wing is that he performs so effectively in the middle, especially when Jordan Staal and/or Malkin is being used on the wing and there is an opening at center on the No. 3 line. Talbot's solid two-way game makes him an excellent fit for that role.

Q: This team makes too many fundamental errors, night-in and night-out. Things like not knowing when to chip the puck deep, too many offside calls on the rush, puck management, generally getting outworked in the corners and producing pee-wee-type numbers for shots on goal. Everyone knows our dynamic duo (of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin) is world-class. After them and our goalies, the rest of the team has pretty much been AHL material, at best. Could it be possible that we the fans and some media members have overrated this team and its overall talent level?

Zach, Reading, Pa.

MOLINARI: There's no question that the Penguins have had some sloppy, uninspired performances during the first five weeks of the season, and that more than a few elements of their game will have to be upgraded if they expect to be a factor in the playoffs next spring. There's also no question that those playoffs won't begin until April, so it's a little early to go into a full-fledged panic over what's happened to this point, especially considering the volume of personnel changes during the off-season.

There's no way for the moderator of this forum to truly know whether the Penguins were overrated by fans or other media members, but the thinking here was that the Penguins would enter this season with a team inferior to the one that came within two victories of a Stanley Cup in June, but a bit better than the one they had at this point in 2007, mostly because of the experience gained by its key members.

So much happens over the course of a season that predictions made in autumn can look pretty silly six or so months later -- think people might have expected a bit less of New Jersey if it had been known that Martin Brodeur would sit out at least half the season because of an injury? -- but the Penguins certainly have a nucleus that, if its members can stay reasonably healthy, can be fleshed out over the course of the winter to make it a formidable group by spring.

Certainly, regardless of whatever problems the Penguins still might have then, you aren't likely to find many teams eager to be facing a best-of-seven against an opponent with the likes of Crosby, Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury and (remember these guys?) Sergei Gonchar and Ryan Whitney in its lineup.

Q: With the league looking for more ways to generate offense, has it at all considered making defensive-zone hand passes illegal? Generally, there are a few instances on both sides every game where the team stuck in its own zone manages to clear after a hand pass bails out a defender who's in trouble. Making the passes illegal again should create more chances.

Andy Hawk, Hamilton, Va.

MOLINARI: There's no indication that has been seriously discussed by the league's decision-makers, but it is worth noting that, in the not-so-distant past, all hand passes were illegal. Returning to that standard almost certainly would, as you suggest, result in a few more scoring chances per game, although it wouldn't prevent players from using a gloved hand to knock the puck out of their defensive end.