Click here to submit your question

Note: You can follow the Penguins on the Penguins Plus blog at PG-Plus. Membership in that site is only $3.99 per month or $36 per year.

Q: Can Sidney Crosby carry the team like Evgeni Malkin did in 2008 when Sid was out with a high ankle sprain? In those 21 games, the Pens were 11-6-4 and Malkin had 14 goals and 22 assists and his game picked up considerably. I have yet to see this from Crosby playing without Malkin. Do you think he has it in him to take the team on his shoulders as Malkin did in 2008?

Steve, Baldwin

MOLINARI: Crosby enters the Penguins' game in Boston tonight with no points in his past four games and while a player's contribution and impact should not be measured solely by statistics, that's not the kind of drought the Penguins expect from a player with Crosby's history of productivity.

The Penguins' spate of injuries up front certainly compounds to his challenge, because not having to worry about Malkin allows opponents to focus their defensive energies on containing him, but players of Crosby's caliber are expected to elevate their games when the circumstances call for it.

Crosby isn't the only one the Penguins can look to for more offensive output, however. His right winger, Bill Guerin, doesn't have a goal in nine games and Jordan Staal (one goal in 11 games), Matt Cooke (one goal in 12 games) and Ruslan Fedotenko (one goal in nine games) also are capable of showing up on the scoresheet a little more often.

Q: Is the Kontinental Hockey League going to shut down to allow its players to participate in the upcoming Olympics? I believe the Russian team is looking for contributions from players like Sergei Zubov and Aleksey Morozov, who are playing in that league.

Mike Anitori, White Oak

MOLINARI: Every top national league in a country where the game is played at a high level will allow its players to participate in the Games in Vancouver. There are enough strong clubs in North America and Europe than any country that would not do so would doom its team to being an Olympics also-ran.

That's part of the reason it will be so interesting to see whether the NHL opts against participating in the 2014 Games in Russia and, if that's the case, whether high-profile players like Alex Ovechkin and Malkin will carry through their stated intentions to leave the NHL during the Olympics so they can play for their country.

Penguins Plus, a blog by Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson, is featured exclusively on PG+, a members-only web site from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.