RALEIGH, NC — Eric Staal is back.
Actually, the Carolina Hurricanes' star never went anywhere, but the level of
play that had become his norm took a three-month hiatus to begin this season.
But finally, Staal is playing like the All-Star he has been for most of his
eight-year NHL career.
That level continued Friday night in the Hurricanes' 3-2 victory over the San
Jose Sharks at the RBC Center. Staal assisted on a goal by Justin Faulk for
Carolina's second score of the opening period. In the last 10 games, Staal has
five goals and six assists, clearly his best stretch of hockey this season.
"He's the captain and the leader of our team, so he's been playing
great," said second-year star Jeff Skinner. "Even the last couple of
months he wasn't scoring, but he was doing the little things right. It's nice
to see him get back on track offensively. The whole team has been playing a lot
better as of late."
Carolina is 6-1-3 in its last 10 games, with three of the losses coming in
overtime. Clearly, the ‘Canes are also playing their best hockey of the season.
It's no coincidence that Staal is finally stuffing the stat sheet.
The center from Thunder Bay, Ontario entered Friday's contest having lit the
lamp in three consecutive contests and four of five, totaling five goals.
In Monday's 5-3 win at Montreal, arguably the site of the team's most listless
performance of the season back in November, Staal netted two goals and had an
assist in probably his best outing of the year. Both goals and the assist came
in a three-goal third period, lifting Carolina from a 3-2 deficit entering the
period.
He's been on the plus side for five consecutive games. In fact, Staal is plus-8
in the stretch. For the season, he is minus-19. He was a minus-24 after a 2-1
home loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Jan. 10.
Staal's struggles caught the organization by surprise. He's been quite
productive dating back to his 45-goal season in 2006 when the Hurricanes won
the Stanley Cup. His seasonal goal totals since: 30, 38, 40, 29 and 33. He
totaled 473 points in those seasons and was never worse than minus-10 for a
campaign.
Perhaps even more impressive are Staal's 19 goals and 43 points in 43 playoff
games.
But this season started out terribly. He had just five goals when Muller
replaced Paul Maurice on Nov. 28, and while the drought continued – Staal
scored a goal in only one of Muller's first 13 games as coach – the star's
mindset began changing.
Muller acknowledged he was a communicator when he landed the job, and getting
to know Staal and turning him around was a priority. Staal was more active and
became more vocal, but the goals still weren't coming.
One here and another there, but nothing Staal-like that Carolina fans had come
to expect, until recently.
"You work hard, eventually results are going to go in your favor,” Muller
said. “I thought he was working hard for a while. The results weren't always
there to justify his play, but he's been playing two ways with and without the
puck, worked hard every day in practice. He's been a quiet leader, but I
thought he's really elevated even one more notch since this road trip."
Skinner, 19, who is expected to produce like Staal has, learned watching the ‘Canes
captain handle his struggles.
"Having watched him going through something, but doing the little things
right, persevering through it, I think it shows a lot to a young guy like
myself and everyone on the team the attitude he came with to work every
day," said Skinner, who scored his 16th goal Friday. "Now he's
getting rewarded for it."
The Hurricanes are nine points and five teams away from the eighth and final
playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, but they did climb out of the bottom spot
(16th) with Friday's victory.
A playoff push is unlikely, but with the team gelling under Muller's system and
Staal finally doing what he does best, the final 24 games will carry meaning
and intrigue.
