Q: The Penguins recently had their fathers on the road trip with them. Isn't this a distraction? Could having their fathers around play a role in their recent losing streak?

Christine McIsaac, Arlington, Va.

MOLINARI: The Penguins were 3-0-1 in the past two seasons when playing before their assembled fathers -- three of those games were on the road, one at Mellon Arena -- and the consensus then was that many, if not all, of the players elevated their performance level in those games. Based on that precedent, while there are a lot of factors that contributed to the Penguins' losses at Nashville and Colorado last week, having their dads in the crowd wasn't one of them.

While some aspects of a trip change a bit when the father are along -- at the very least, there are a lot more people on the team airplane than usual -- the players still follow a pretty standard routine. They aren't responsible for keeping their fathers occupied or entertained on the road (various team officials draw that duty), and really are able to do things the way they normally do.

Finally, the Penguins' run of losses -- seven in eight games as they prepare to play in Philadelphia tonight -- started long before the fathers' trip. The dads have gone their separate ways now and won't be in the Wachovia Center tonight but, unfortunately for the Penguins, the Flyers will be. And at the moment, there's not a team in the league (let alone one that plays in a building where the Penguins traditionally struggle) the Penguins can be terribly encouraged about having to face. Especially if so few of them continue to play to their potential and they continue to throw their games into neutral at inopportune times.

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Q: All my life, I've watched the Pens beat Washington. Washington has tried claiming it is a rivalry, but this has been a pretty one-sided rivalry. Now, I'm worried. Are the Caps this good, or are they a one-trick pony?

Stewart, San Antonio, Texas

MOLINARI: A one-trick pony? Hardly. There are some big-time thoroughbreds and stallions in coach Bruce Boudreau's stable, and it shows in the Capitals' 27-13-3 record. Things like the 18-2-1 home mark they'll take into a game against Edmonton at the Verizon Center tonight doesn't happen through dumb luck or by accident.

Alex Ovechkin is probably the most exciting and entertaining player in the game today, and maybe the best, but he's simply the front man for an outstanding collection of young talent. Up-and-coming guys like Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green and Alexander Semin (you remember him, the guy who figures Sidney Crosby is just another one of the 700 or so players on NHL payrolls ) have carried the Capitals to the top of the Southeast Division, and veterans like Viktor Kozlov, Sergei Fedorov and Tom Poti have handled their supporting roles admirably.

Whether Jose Theodore and/or Brent Johnson can provide the kind of goaltending Washington will need if it expects to make a serious run at a championship this spring is a subject of considerable debate, but there is nothing fluky about what the Capitals have accomplished to this point.

The Capitals, who will visit Mellon Arena tomorrow night, have all of their elite young players under contract for at least one more year -- in Ovechkin's case, he's signed until sometime in the next century -- but their payroll already is hovering close to the salary-cap ceiling, and they might find it difficult to hold onto valuable role players like Fedorov, Kozlov and heavyweight Donald Brashear when they become unrestricted free agents this summer.

As for the rivalry, it really hasn't been much of one over the years because of the Penguins' dominance, particularly when the teams have met during the playoffs. That certainly could change, though, if the Capitals smack the Penguins around during the regular season for a few years in a row, or manage to win a couple of best-of-sevens from them.