Scouting report Matchup: Carolina Hurricanes at Penguins, 7:38 p.m. today, Mellon Arena. TV, radio: FSN Pittsburgh, WXDX-FM (105.9). Probable goaltenders: Marc-Andre Fleury for Penguins. John Grahame for Hurricanes. Penguins: Have lost three consecutive home games to Hurricanes, including 5-1 defeat Oct. 14. ... C Sidney Crosby has just four points in six career games against Carolina. ... Allowed two or more power-play goals four times in past seven games. Hurricanes: Are 6-2 in past eight games after going 0-4-1 in previous five. ... Have been outscored, 80-77, at even-strength. ... Are 14-0 when leading at first intermission. Hidden stat: Carolina is 17-9-2 with D Andrew Hutchinson in lineup.

Rod Brind'Amour broke into the NHL in 1989 and his career, when measured solely by individual awards and honors, doesn't seem like anything terribly special.

Oh, he made the 1990 all-rookie team, played in the 1992 All-Star game and won the Selke Trophy as the league's top defensive forward last season, but that's about it.

At least if you're willing to overlook all the things Brind'Amour has done so well for so long, and how he was a driving force in Carolina's surge to the Stanley Cup last spring.

He is the Hurricanes' leading scorer, with 13 goals and 32 assists in 37 games, logs a team-high average of 23 minutes, 13 seconds per game, wins 59.6 percent of his faceoffs and takes a six-game scoring streak into their game tonight against the Penguins.

Impressive as those numbers are, there is another stat that best illustrates his value: Carolina is 19-4-2 when Brind'Amour gets a point.

"He's one of those guys who's there every night for you," said Penguins right winger Mark Recchi, Brind'Amour's teammate in Philadelphia and on the Hurricanes' Cup-winning team. "He has an unbelievable work ethic.

"He's a quiet guy, but he knows when he has to speak and do the right things. It was a treat for me to go down [to Carolina] and be with him again.

"I think people are starting to appreciate him more because of the playoffs he had last year, but he's always been a guy you could count on."

Ekman's absence

Winger Nils Ekman, who injured his left elbow in the Penguins' 4-1 victory Friday against Toronto, is scheduled to have a Magnetic Resonance Imaging examination today.

While there will not be an official prognosis until those test results are in, team officials seem resigned to being without Ekman for an extended period.

Penguins coach Michel Therrien said he and his staff will decide today whether Chris Thorburn or Ronald Petrovicky, both healthy scratches for the Toronto game, will replace Ekman tonight.

"When somebody's down, it gives an opportunity to another guy to step up," Therrien said.

Hurricanes' Staal in slump

Hurricanes center Eric Staal is one of the great young players in the NHL, but he doesn't have a goal in his past seven games.

And that hasn't gone unnoticed by his little brother, Jordan Staal.

He said it's impossible to say whether his big brother's slump will come up in the conversation if they cross paths tonight because "we'll have to see how the game is going." But Jordan clearly is among the many who expect Eric to regain his touch before much longer.

"It happens," Jordan Staal said. "Obviously, a lot of players go through it. I talked to him a couple of days ago, and he really seems to be fighting the puck. But he's a great player, and he'll get through it."

Long Hurricane droughts

Carolina defenseman Mike Commodore doesn't have a goal in his past eight games. Even so, odds are that none of his teammates or coaches are concerned, let alone complaining.

Not only because goal-scoring isn't an important part of his job description, but because the Hurricanes have won just one of the four games in which Commodore has contributed a goal this season.

Besides, for most guys on the Carolina blue line, going a mere eight games without a goal would qualify as a hot streak. Glen Wesley, for example, doesn't have one in 65 games, while Bret Hedican has gone 63 without a goal and Niclas Wallin is in a 0-for-26 rut.

Slap shots

John Grahame, the Hurricanes' backup goalie, has an all-time record of 9-1, with one tie, in 11 career appearances against the Penguins. ... Carolina forward Cory Stillman and Penguins alum Bryan Trottier are the only players in NHL history to assist on Stanley Cup-clinching goals with two teams. Stillman did it with Tampa Bay in 2004 and the Hurricanes last season.