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Q: You may initially think this is stupid; however, think about it: Since the Penguins cannot score on the power play but do score when they play at even-strength, why don't they just play their even-strength game (when they have a man-advantage)? The results can't be any worse than the power play is now.

Bill Rote, Springfield, Va.

MOLINARI: That idea is a bit -- no, a lot -- extreme, although an argument could be made that extreme measures are in order when a team with some of the Penguins' individual talent is in a 6-for-44 power-play funk like they were before facing the New York Islanders last night.

A less radical, and probably more effective, strategy would be to strip the power play to its essence: Getting the puck on goal as much as possible, and having bodies around the net to get deflections and rebounds. The goals teams scored when they do that usually aren't pretty, but the Penguins don't have the luxury of worrying about style points these days.

Q: I'm truly not sold on Miroslav Satan. I just don't see the effort out there from him. I hope he is on a one-year deal and we can get a sniper on Sidney Crosby's wing.

Stephen L. Foxx, Monessen

MOLINARI: Satan has been, during the first two-plus months of the season, pretty much what was expected. He's able to score goals in bunches when he gets hot, as he was a few weeks ago, and he's equally capable of being invisible when the puck isn't going in the net.

Even when he is scoring, however, Satan is not the kind of guy who looks to get involved in a lot of one-on-one battles, and he isn't going to win a high percentage of the ones in which he does become involved.

Satan is on a one-year contract (worth $3.5 million), and it's too early to know whether he will want to return, or whether the Penguins will be interested in having him back. Certainly, he is not the ideal linemate for Crosby, but given the restrictions imposed by the salary-cap ceiling, the Penguins would have to make some major personnel changes to clear the space needed if they want to bring in an elite winger to play with him, be it before the trade deadline or during the offseason.

Satan, it should be noted, was brought in primarily because of his goal-scoring ability, and with 10 in his first 28 games, trailed only Crosby (13) and Evgeni Malkin (11) in the team race before the Islanders game.

Q: Do you think the Penguins could trade prospects to the Tampa Bay Lighting to get back Adam Hall and Gary Roberts? The reason I ask is because one thing I see as a problem with the Pens this year, in addition to defense lapses, is a lack of grit. Hall and Roberts provided that.

Curtis Price, State College

MOLINARI: Yes, they could, but no, they won't.

While it's been evident since July that the Penguins wouldn't have the grit they did in 2007-08, they will not try to address the situation by bringing those two back.

If the Penguins were interested in having Hall on a three-year contract, which he received from the Lightning after qualifying for unrestricted free agency, they would have signed him to one before July 1. (General manager Ray Shero does not, in general, like to have his role players on contracts longer than two years, which is why guys like Jarkko Ruutu and Hall are working elsewhere these days.)

And while no one inside the organization ever would say so publicly, it was evident that the Penguins don't believe Roberts can be a factor with any sort of regularity at this stage of his career. He has been injured much of the time in recent seasons, which is no surprise for a guy who's in his 40s, and couldn't realistically be counted on to match the impact he did when the Penguins acquired him at the trade deadline in 2007.