Penguins center Jordan Staal yesterday accepted a plea deal through attorneys that resolves his case in Cook County, Minn., stemming from a late, loud bachelor party for his brother Eric.

Cook County prosecutor Tim Scannell said in an e-mail interview that Jordan Staal, 19, accepted a deal in which he pled guilty to reduced charges of petty misdemeanor disorderly conduct and underage drinking. He will pay $737 in fines.

Scannell said Eric Staal, a center for Carolina, accepted a similar deal, without the underage drinking charge.

The two were among 14 men arrested in Grand Marais, Minn., in the early morning of July 21. The party was about two hours from the Staals' home in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Jordan Staal was arrested for disorderly conduct, obstruction and underage drinking, all misdemeanors.

Last night, Jordan Staal -- sporting a large lump and stitches, but no face shield, after taking a stick to the forehead Monday in practice -- played against his brother Marc for the first time in the NHL.

"I played against him when I was in Sudbury and he was in Peterborough," Marc Staal, a defenseman with the New York Rangers, said of the brothers' days in junior hockey. "It's pretty weird to play against your brother, but it's a lot of fun."

Jagr-gambling revelations

In his new book, "Bets, Drugs and Rock & Roll," Steve Bodin, called the father of offshore gambling, spends four pages painting Rangers captain and former Penguins star Jaromir Jagr as very active in sports betting, especially football, but never hockey.

Bodin describes games in which Jagr was later than his Rangers teammates in taking the ice because he was on the phone in the locker room placing $40,000 bets.

Bodin writes that while Jagr would win or lose up to $250,000 a week, he was a poor bettor who never made money over the course of a week. To which Jagr cracked to the New York Daily News, "Probably. I was betting on the Giants back then."

World Series interest

Once practice ends today, at least two Penguins will switch their allegiances.

Defensemen Ryan Whitney and Brooks Orpik will morph into Boston Red Sox fans. They're just hoping Game One of the World Series between the Sox and Colorado Rockies ends early enough for them to see most of it.

"It's so exciting," said Whitney, who grew up in Boston and played at Boston University.

"I have my [pitcher Josh] Beckett jersey I'll be wearing."

Orpik lived in Boston for high school and while playing for Boston College. He spends summers there and goes to a number of games at Fenway Park, thanks to a friend who works in the front office and the fact that he lives one train stop away.

Slap shots

Penguins winger Georges Laraque is having trouble with a groin injury again and missed the game and morning skate. That opened the door for center Erik Christensen to return to the lineup after playing less than five minutes Friday night and being a healthy scratch Saturday. The Penguins' other scratch was defenseman Alain Nasreddine. ... Rangers scratches were defensemen Thomas Pock and Jason Strudwick and forward Martin Straka. ... Penguins 2007 first-round draft pick Angelo Esposito and second-round pick Keven Veilleux were selected to represent the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League at the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge Nov. 19 and 21. The QMJHL coach is former Penguins assistant Clement Jodoin.