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One might think that younger brother Jordan, a rookie forward with the Penguins, would be the gracious host and pick up the bill when they went to dinner Monday night.
"No, not a chance," Eric, a forward for Carolina, said after the morning skate. "We were fortunate enough to go with [Penguins veteran] Mark Recchi, and he picked it up. Jordan was lucky enough to not have any cash in his wallet, and we were lucky Recchs did."
On the ice, Eric, 22, is a lot more impressed with Jordan, 18, who led the NHL with five shorthanded goals and whose 12 goals going into last night were one more than Eric had in 81 games as a 19-year-old rookie in 2003-04.
"He's having a lot of fun here, and he's playing well," Eric said. "At 18 years old, to lead the league in shorthanded goals at Christmastime is a great feat. He's a great player all over the ice, so I'm really not surprised."
Jordan might be the same player, but there's a lot more of him than there was when the brothers grew up playing together in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
"He's a lot bigger than he was when I was playing against him on the pond," Eric said. "He's grown a lot heavier and bigger than I am. But he's got those same skills, that same knack for the game. I think that's one of the reasons he's here. He can think the game as well as anybody."
Eric is listed at 6 feet 4, 205 pounds; Jordan, 6-4, 220.
"He was always a pretty big kid just naturally and I think over the summer he worked really hard to get ready for this year, and he got a lot stronger," Eric said. "I think he's starting to come into his own with his body."
Thorburn gets a shot
Winger Nils Ekman's MRI was delayed until at least today. The left elbow injury he sustained Friday is thought to be serious, but the exact nature and severity have yet to be determined.
With Ekman out, the Penguins have just one extra player, a forward, on the roster. Last night, Chris Thorburn dressed as a fourth-liner while Ronald Petrovicky was scratched. "It means a lot," Thorburn said, "but I've got to work for it. Ronald Petrovicky's still sitting there, and he's ready to go.
"But every time I get an opportunity, I have to go hard, play my role -- be physical, forecheck hard and create turnovers and create momentum for the team late in the game -- play within the system and try and help the team win as best I can."
Looking special
Penguins coach Michel Therrien was pumped about the recent play of his club's special teams, which produced six power-play goals and one short-handed over the five games before last night.
"With the quality of players we have to put on the ice, if we keep working on it and keep focusing on the things that we should do, eventually the puck will get in the net," he said.
The flip side is that the Penguins had just three even-strength goals over those five games.
"You've got to be positive. You've got teams that are ahead in the standings because of their special teams," Therrien said. "More and more it's going to be tough to score goals five-on-five."
Crosby No. 3 in December
Penguins center and NHL leading scorer Sidney Crosby was named the league's third star for December, when he had 26 points in 14 games. Calgary's Jarome Iginla (26 points in 14 games) and Detroit goaltender Dominik Hasek (10-1-0, 1.59 goals-against average) nabbed the first and second stars. Colorado forward Wojtek Wolski (11 points in 13 games) edged Los Angeles center Anze Kopitar (12 points in 14 games) and the Penguins' Evgeni Malkin (14 points in 14 games) for NHL rookie of the month in December.
Keeping fit
Carolina coach Peter Laviolette said veteran center Rod Brind'Amour, 36, who led the Hurricanes with 45 points and was averaging 23 minutes, 13 seconds of ice time, might be the best-conditioned player in the NHL.
"We finished up [winning the Stanley Cup] June 19, and probably by the time he got back into workouts, it was at least June 22," Laviolette said. "He was clearly the most fit person in camp. That's what allows him to play all those minutes."
