Staal scores four in Canes’ rout of Bolts

March 8, 2009   ·   Derek Felix   ·   Jump to comments

It’s rare that a star athlete goes beyond the call of duty. Particularly in our tough sport where goals can sometimes be hard to come by.

However, Eric Staal had no such trouble versus the Lightning last night scoring four and adding two assists in the Hurricanes’ 9-3 rout in South Florida lifting them from 10th to seventh in the crowded Eastern playoff picture.

The four goals and six points matched franchise marks with the talented Staal becoming the first Whaler/Cane to score four since Ron Francis did it on Feb.12, 1984 versus Edmonton. His six-point effort was the club’s fourth in franchise history raising his 2008-09 total to 32 goals and 24 assists extending a current point streak to five straight (5-7-12).

Of his big night, the 24 year-old Staal said:

“That’s one of those games that don’t happen very often. It was a good win for our team, which was the bottom line. But it’s fun getting points and being on the offensive side of the game. I’ve been on the other end of it before.“

Apparently, being reunited with Erik Cole hasn’t hurt the cause with Cole tallying in his first game- a 6-1 home rout of Calgary and then following up with four helpers  last night. Not a bad restart to his second stint with Carolina following the bizarre four-team trade involving Los Angeles, Edmonton and Buffalo on Deadline Day.

It was the Canes’ seventh win in nine lifting them back into playoff position a point behind fifth Florida, who got a David Booth hat trick plus an assist last night in their win over Nashville.

With Montreal dropping a second in a row the night before shutout by lowly Atlanta, the Habs are tied with the Panthers with 76 points. Carolina now ranks seventh a point behind pushing the Rangers back to eighth with 74 points and one less game played than the Penguins, who have the same point total.

The Blueshirts will get two big tests the next 40 hours with the top seeded Bruins visiting the Garden for a 12:30 tilt on NBC. Boston picked up a much needed win yesterday getting quick contributions from deadline pickup Mark Recchi, who scored twice in a 5-3 home triumph over Chicago. With the Devils falling on Long Island 7-3, it allowed Claude Julien’s club to gain two points taking an eight-point lead for tops in the Conference.

Every game the Rangers have played Boston tight with two decided via shootout while the B’s got a 1-0 shutout from emergency rookie starter Tuukka Rask last time out. We’ll see how John Tortorella’s attacking style fares against one of the league’s best.

While it’s important for the Blueshirts to keep it going several hours from now, it’s absolutely imperative for them to deliver a big performance the following night when they visit Raleigh with the game on Versus. It’ll be interesting to see how they respond the next two days.

Congrats to Staal on his accomplishment.