Eric Staal was coming

ST. PAUL Adidas Calvin De Haan Jersey , Minn. (AP) off his least productive NHL season since he was a teenage rookie with Carolina when Minnesota took a flier on him two summers ago to add some depth at center.The three-year contract was modest for a player with Staal’s ability and accomplishments. The expectations were, too. Three consecutive seasons of decline in points per game, after all, don’t provide a hint that the scoring touch or passing knack is primed for resurgence.Bruce Boudreau could see the rebound potential, though. His first day of training camp with the Wild happened to be Staal’s practice debut with his new club, and a strong impression was made on the new head coach.”I said, `You know what? Everybody was wrong,”’ Boudreau said. ”Because he did the skate test on the very first day, and he blew everybody out of the water. So I said to the staff, `He should be able to play for us.”’Staal has done much more for the Wild than simply prove he can keep up and stabilize a key position with some savviness and leadership. Nobody on the team has scored more since he arrived, and with 40 goals this season he’s tied for sixth in the league through Monday’s games.”I never thought a specific number was a goal. I don’t ever usually think like that,” Staal said. ”Once you start a season, it can go a lot of different ways, but once the puck starts hitting the back of the net and you’re gaining confidence that way Adidas Michael Ferland Jersey , you want to hold on to it as long as you can and accumulate as much as you can to help your team win.”Staal became just the second player in NHL history, joining Gordie Howe, to record a 40-goal season at least nine years apart with none in between. Slumps can factor into that, but so does dedication.”Look, he’s won a Stanley Cup. He’s won an Olympic medal. He’s got all the money that he’s ever going to need,” Boudreau said. ”But when he came here he wanted to prove to the world that he’s still a really good player, and to me he has.”The lanky 33-year-old with the left-handed shot has been a big reason why the Wild, despite some rough patches of the schedule and significant injury absences by several of their best skaters, have clinched a spot in the playoffs for the sixth straight season.”You want that, especially as a player who’s in the second half of his career. You want to make sure you’re in a spot to try to win again, and coming here I felt gave me that chance,” said Staal, the second overall pick in the 2003 draft who won the Stanley Cup in 2006 at age 21 but only returned to the playoffs once more with the Hurricanes. ”We’ve still got some work to do here, but hopefully we can finish strong.”Staal only has one goal-less stretch on his ledger longer than four games in a row Adidas Jordan Schroeder Jersey , when he played six consecutive contests without scoring from Jan. 9-22. He still contributed four assists over that span. Not coincidentally, the Wild have only one losing streak larger than two. They dropped three in a row from Nov. 4-8.”He’s a guy we’ve definitely looked to to help lead us,” said left wing Jason Zucker, one of the many linemates Staal has saddled up to this season – without, Boudreau said beamingly, a single complaint.Durability has been one crucial component of his value, of course. Staal has yet to miss a game since signing the $10.5 million deal on July 1, 2016. The emotional steadiness he has contributed can’t be overlooked, either.”He’s been through the best of teams. He’s been through the worst of teams. He’s been the leader on all of these teams,” Boudreau said. ”He’s had to make sure he’s the steady one, because if he gets too high, maybe the rest of the group gets too high. If he was one to get too low, maybe everybody else would follow his lead.”The Wild actually left Staal exposed in the expansion draft, banking on his age being less attractive to the Vegas Golden Knights. His salary cap hit is only the ninth-highest on the roster.”If he was playing in Toronto Adidas Chris Kunitz Jersey , he’d be up for the MVP,” Boudreau said.Settling in Minnesota was more than satisfying for Staal, with the perennial postseason opportunities and the relative proximity to his hometown of Thunder Bay, Manitoba, about a six-hour drive away. He and his wife, Tanya, have been able to raise sons Parker, Levi and Finley, in a similar northern culture and climate that he was raised in, delighting in seeing the boys at 8, 6 and 3 years old take to the local hockey rinks or eagerly hop on their sleds after the latest snowfall.”All that stuff I grew up doing and loving, and now I’m kind of living it back through them,” Staal said. ”It’s definitely made it a ton of fun.”— PHILADELPHIA (AP) Taylor Hall answered a vicious check in the best possible way – by netting the tying goal that helped the Devils snap a four-game losing streak.Hall scored twice in regulation, Drew Stafford had the only tally in the shootout and New Jersey beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 on Tuesday night.John Moore and Nico Hischier also tallied goals in regulation for the Devils.Hall was leveled by Radko Gudas just after shooting from a sharp angle 4:08 into the second period. He missed the remainder of the period Adidas Brandon Manning Jersey , going through the concussion protocol, but returned in the third and scored his second of the night with 1:21 left in regulation to tie it at 3. Hischier’s shot from the slot rebounded off Neuvirth to Hall, who roofed it for his 23rd of the season.”You want to feel like yourself and you want to come back and help your team win,” Hall said.Hall’s grit impressed Devils coach John Hynes.”He’s a driven kid,” Hynes said. ”It’s another game for him where I think it’s great for him and our team, the investment level he’s had. His ability to impact the game the right way and play the right way is fantastic.”Claude Giroux had a goal and an assist and Radko Gudas, Travis Konecny and Scott Laughton also scored for the Flyers, who learned earlier Tuesday that starting goalie Brian Elliott will be out for at least five weeks.Philadelphia had its four-game winning streak snapped and remained in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, while the seventh-place Devils pulled within two points.”We’re not happy with that, but the effort and work ethic were good,” Flyers coach Dave Hakstol said.Keith Kinkaid made 31 saves and stopped all three Flyers attempts in the shootout.”I knew we had to get off this (losing streak),” Kinkaid said.Stafford, New Jersey’s second shooter, beat Michal Neuvirth through the five-hole to end it.Neuvirth Adidas Cam Ward Jersey , the Flyers’ backup, made 31 saves in his second straight start since Elliott was injured during Saturday’s shootout at Arizona. General manager Ron Hextall announced prior to the game that Elliott had abdominal surgery on Tuesday and will be out 5 to 6 weeks.”It’s definitely exciting, but I feel bad for (Elliott),” Neuvirth said of being elevated to No. 1. ”This is a team game. We are playing for each other.”The teams combined for six goals in an electrifying second period.After Hall’s first goal, Laughton’s tally 41 seconds later from close range put the Flyers ahead. And it was a two-goal advantage for Philadelphia when Gudas’ slap shot from the point whizzed past Kinkaid with 9:24 left in the period.Moore’s hard slap shot beat Neuvirth on the glove side with 6:43 remaining in the second to pull New Jersey within 3-2, but Giroux answered with a power play goal 2:42 later when his shot from a sharp angle deflected off the stick of Devils defenseman Ben Lovejoy and through Kinkaid’s legs.Ten seconds later, Hischier finished a 2-on-1 with a wrist shot over Neuvirth’s glove after a turnover by Ivan Provorov off the faceoff to make it 4-3.Konecny opened the scoring 1:54 into the contest with his 14th goal of the season and eighth in the last 13 games when he streaked down the right side and shot past Kinkaid.NOTES: In 41 games this season, Elliott has posted a 21-11-7 mark with a 2.72 goals-against average and .908 save percentage. … Hall has points in 15 straight games (11 goals, 12 assists). … New Jersey’s Brian Boyle (right shoulder) and John Quenneville (right knee) didn’t make the trip to Philadelphia and are day-to-day. … The teams tied the season series at 2 games apiece.UP NEXTDevils: Host Carolina on Thursday night.Flyers: At Columbus on Friday night.—