There is an MVP candidate in Pittsburgh, a player of such Hart and soul that he made Penguins fans forget about all the talent their favorite bankrupt organization has had to flush recently.

	Dick Tarnstrom led all NHL defensemen in points with 25 when he was injured on Nov. 29.

He had them moving. He had them protecting. He had them powerful once more until, alas, the MVP candidate was struck down just as the fun was beginning.

No, Penguins fans, Mario's back hasn't returned to its historic state of uncertainty. But Dick Tarnstrom won't be watching your team's back Thursday night when it shuffles into San Jose trying to end a losing streak that seems to have no end ... but began when Dick went down.

Yes, Dick Tarnstrom. The 27-year old defenseman who was becoming the biggest blue-line force in Pittsburgh since Paul Coffey. Defense was never really a problem with the Penguins in those glory days, because they never played it. Even when Lemieux was out with illnesses, injuries or temporary retirements, there was always enough forward talent to excel on the power play. But even with their star/icon/captain/owner back and healthy, the Penguins had to be concerned about extending their string of early springs to two.

The cheapest solution? Tarnstrom. He was plucked Aug. 7 off the waiver wire, where he was placed after a not-so noteworthy season on Long Island. Tarnstrom wasn't a household name in Nassau County. A No. 12 draft choice of the Islanders -- not 12th overall, their 12th choice (272nd overall) in the 1994 entry draft -- Tarnstrom registered three goals and 16 assists in 62 games, and didn't embarrass himself in five playoff games. Then the team dumped him.

	Power Outage
	Dick Tarnstrom's absence isn't the only one being felt by the Penguins, but it's certainly the biggest. Below are the Penguins' statistics before their power-play quarterback was injured and their statistics since:
		BEFORE	SINCE
	Games	22	5
	Avg. goals for	3.32	1.80
	Avg. goals against	2.70	4.00
	Power play	32.7	14.2
	Penalty kill	83.5	86.7

Enter Craig Patrick, general manager of the NHL salvage yard, specializing in unused European parts. He spent a waiver-wire fee on Tarnstrom, gave him a minuscule salary ($475,000 per year) and -- voila! -- added stability to the blue line, coordination on the power play and another offensive weapon to boot.

Tanstrom's breakout game came via a goal and three assists against Montreal on Nov. 18. Then, against the Flyers on Nov. 27, he racked up three assists. The Penguins, soaring out of a mid-November skid, assumed a share of the Atlantic Division lead that night, and visions of playoff hockey danced in their heads.

Just two nights later in Buffalo, Tarnstrom -- leading the NHL in defensive scoring with four goals and 25 points and leading a power-play unit that was clicking on an NHL-record pace of 35 percent -- was struck down with a broken foot. Without him, the Penguins lost five games in a row. They have scored just three power-play goals in their past 21 attempts.

"He was our quarterback back there on top of the triangle," Lemieux told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "It's tough to lose a guy like that."

Officially, Tarnstrom is out indefinitely, but speculation is he'll be able to return soon after Christmas. For the Penguins, there would be no better belated gift. While trying to find their way to San Jose seven injured regulars short, the Penguins were 11-10-3-3 and in the middle of the mediocre pack in the East.

As for the local race, the Penguins have sunk to fourth in the Atlantic Division, ahead of ... well, Nassau County's hockey heroes. But the Islanders deserve it.

After all, they didn't know Dick Tarnstrom like Penguins fans do now.

Injury Impact
They might not quite represent the profound loss that Dick Tarnstrom is proving to be in Pittsburgh, but here's a slightly richer list of NHL players ranked by degree of impact (least to most) their injuries have had on their teams:

10. (tie). Chris Pronger, St. Louis Blues, and Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings: Any list of injured players should have these two near the top. Both will be out for the bulk of their teams' regular seasons. Yzerman probably until mid-February, Pronger probably longer. They are unquestioned leaders, but as far as the impact their absences have on their teams now? They don't rate higher because the Blues and Red Wings are doing just fine without them, thank you.

	Bure

9. Pavel Bure, New York Rangers: You wonder if No. 9's knees have nine lives. If surgery on the torn meniscus and sprained MCL in his left knee this week reveals there is also damage to the ACL, Bure's third career knee burial will be conducted and his season will be over.

So, too, go the Rangers. Of course, they're shot anyway. Shame for Pavel, though. He came off torn knee cartilage in the exhibition season, had a bad cold that sidelined him for the first three games of the regular season, started with seven goals and 11 points in his first eight games, went without a point in his next nine, then went 7-3-10 in his next eight games, including a hat trick against the Blue Jackets.

Then came this stinging knee injury Dec. 6 against Buffalo. He has proven before he can overcome even the worst of knee news. But based on recent history growing longer, the Rangers have proven to be a team that can't overcome anything.

9a. Mike Richter, New York Rangers: See above. Now see the no-longer young goalie go down with another concussion Nov. 5, and know there's no clear end in sight for him. Richter had just surpassed 300 career victories with the Rangers. There's no guarantee he'll have a chance to win another.

	Roberts

8. Gary Roberts, Toronto Maple Leafs: He had both shoulders repadded and stuffed over the summer. He is still far from testing how those formerly pointed shoulders and lethal elbows can withstand the usual rigors of his beautifully grubby game.

He's not the physical assassin he was in his younger days, but without Roberts the Leafs are not only missing an important second-line scoring option, but also a hefty measure of grit and guile. That was apparent early on, but Toronto's depth and Ed Belfour's brilliance have since turned T.O. around and put it back in the thick of the Eastern Conference race.

7. Jason Arnott, Dallas Stars: Primed for a big season, just as his team was, Arnott promptly went down on opening night. He missed the next nine games, but even after his return seemed to be missing much of the zip he formerly possessed. In his first 21 games, Arnott accounted for only four points. But when masterful rookie coach Dave Tippett paired him with Pierre Turgeon and Scott Young, things changed. He put up seven points in eight games, including a hat trick on Dec. 4. The impact of all this is that the Stars have gone from tough to nearly unbeatable.

	Burke

6. Sean Burke, Phoenix Coyotes: Probably the league's best -- certainly its most underappreciated -- goaltender over the past two seasons. Burke was off to a slow start when he went down with a sprained ankle Oct. 22 in Nashville, and the Coyotes had secured long-term support by acquiring Brian Boucher from the Flyers and signing him to a contract extension. Boucher has been somewhat typically up and down, but you can't complain too much about his performance (8-10-5, 2.96 GAA and .898 save percentage). Phoenix's problems are mush deeper than the goal crease.

5. Sergei Samsonov, Boston Bruins: There's no fancier playmaker in the East, and considering he has missed 21 games (18 with a wrist, three with a groin) this season, it shows how scary-deep Boston is at forward. Samsonov's wrist problem is something that everyone predicts will be chronic. In trying to play through it while getting over the recent groin problem, he has gone 3-5-8 in six games. If the Bruins expect to actually carry over their regular-season success into the playoffs this time around, they have to hope Samsonov is able to carry on.

	Thornton

4. Scott Thornton, San Jose Sharks: A shoulder injury knocked him from the first 14 games this season, leaving the would-be Cup contending Sharks without a crucial middle-line center to start the season. As a result, the Sharks went 5-7-1-1 and are still looking for a jumpstart. Thornton has worked his way back nicely. He had four goals and eight points in 12 games. But one fired coach later, San Jose will welcome injury-riddled Pittsburgh to town Thursday -- if only because it's a chance to take a step toward the .500 mark.

3. Jason Allison, Los Angeles Kings: Considering Ziggy Stardust (Palffy) hasn't been such a glittering sensation in La-La land, Allison has come to represent the fortunes of his team. He rolled off four goals (including two game-winners) and 11 points in his first nine games, then missed all of November with a knee injury while the Kings struggled to maintain their pace. Since coming off injured reserve on Dec. 5, Allison garnered six points in four games, including a goal and two assists at Dallas on Wednesday. He has to pick up the pace if no one else does.

	LeClair

2. John LeClair, Philadelphia Flyers: All of you who thought LeClair's days as a great goal scorer were over, raise your hand (and tell the press box denizens in Philadelphia to put their arms down). LeClair, two years removed from spinal surgery that cut deeply into his grind-it-out game, was a hugely pleasant surprise early on, scoring at better than a 40-goal pace while the Flyers raced to the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Then came a return to the kind of scoring cluelessness the Flyers showed so grossly in the playoffs.

In the midst of a slide in which the Flyers scored 22 goals in 16 games, LeClair was tackled by Pittsburgh's Marc Bergevin, who rode LeClair right onto the IR. Surgery on a torn labrum in his right shoulder will sideline LeClair until late February, and a team that already was having trouble scoring goals will now have to come up with some irregular goaltending miracles be a factor in the East race. In other words, don't count on it.

1. Michael Peca, New York Islanders: Take that bright idea of a premature Peca return on Nov. 2 and stuff it in the vaults. It's perfect fodder for the book on Islander follies that a couple of the team's beat writers are currently compiling. But the final chapter on Peca's prolonged comeback from the Darcy Tucker Disease (otherwise known as a dirty hit in the playoffs) that ravaged his knee hasn't been written. His club was 3-6-1 when he limped onto the Mausaleum ice for inspiration purposes only on Nov. 2. He exited to a roar after a 25-second appearance -- but the crowd exited early in what would be a 6-1 loss.

The Isles were 5-10-1 when Peca really returned (albeit somewhat early) on Nov. 14, a game in which they lost only 4-1. Peca tweaked his other knee in that game, but all was not lost. He didn't miss another game and warmed to the challenge. The Isles went unbeaten in five, lost two, then won three in a row culminating in a game Saturday against Pittsburgh in which Peca scored his first two goals of the season. If he's able to stay healthy, Peca might yet be able to push the Islanders back onto solid ground by the spring.

Rob Parent of the Delaware County (Pa.) Times is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.