Forum allgemein » Eric Staal has been the ideal

ST. PAUL Custom Columbus Blue Jackets Jerseys , Minn. (AP) leader for the Minnesota Wild, continuing to produce no matter who he’s skating with while coach Bruce Boudreau searches for the most effective combinations.This latest line sure looks like it works well.Staal had three goals and two assists to combine with linemates Mikael Granlund and Jason Zucker for 14 points and propel the surging Wild to an 8-3 victory on Tuesday over the St. Louis Blues, who lost their seventh straight game.”You want to bottle it and keep it going as long as you can,” Staal said.This was his 14th career hat trick, his first in more than five years.”He does it so quietly. He has played with a smorgasbord of players this year,” Boudreau said. ”This is the longest he’s been on one line all year, and he’s never complained. He never says a word. `Whatever you need to do. Put him with me. I’ll get him going.”’By scoring 13 times in 13 games in February, Staal raised his season total to 33 goals to move into the top five in the NHL.”If he was playing in Toronto, he’d be up for the MVP,” Boudreau said.Granlund had two goals and two assists and Zucker added a goal and four assists for the Wild, who have won five in a row overall and are 19-2-5 in their last 26 home games since Nov. 14. In three games together, the Zucker-Staal-Granlund line has a staggering 11 goals and 15 assists.”Just try to work hard there and get those pucks back,” Granlund said, ”and right now I guess we’re getting a couple bounces, too.”Ryan Suter had three of his team-leading 37 assists www.officialstarsproonline.com , Mikko Koivu and Jared Spurgeon also scored, and the Wild’s eight goals matched their franchise record.”It’s a matter of pride as far as I’m concerned. You give up eight goals? Come on,” Blues coach Mike Yeo said. ”We’ve given up 16 in the last three games. We’ve always been one of the top defensive teams. The turnovers that we have and the lack of respect that we have for our goaltenders and for the game of hockey, that’s ridiculous.”Vladimir Tarasenko scored twice and Alex Pietrangelo added a goal for the Blues, but Yeo pulled goalie Jake Allen for Carter Hutton after Allen gave up three goals on eight shots in the first period. The Blues have been outscored 29-10 during their skid while taking only one of the seven games to overtime.”I don’t know what to say,” Tarasenko said. ”It’s embarrassing.”Until Pietrangelo scored just 15 seconds into the second period to cut the lead to 3-2, the Blues played a stretch of 171 minutes and 52 seconds where all they had was two goals by Tarasenko.”We’re completely disconnected in our game,” Pietrangelo said. ”It’s unacceptable.”The Blues played without center Paul Stastny, who was sent to Winnipeg for a first-round draft pick on Monday just before the trade deadline. This has been a brutal month for a team that was on top of the Central Division or near it for most of the season until its recent slide.The Wild have zoomed in to fill that void, climbing into third place with this fabulous last week in February, and the 33-year-old Staal has led the charge. He was originally credited with a fourth goal, midway through the first period, but the official scorers later credited that one to Granlund on a tip near the net. When Staal finished a rush with a top-shelf shot past Hutton , some fans tossed their caps on the ice prematurely.”I felt kind of guilty,” Granlund said.Staal’s last goal was a sure sign of a guy with a hot stick Dallas Stars T-Shirts Authentic , with a poke that hit the left post . The puck zipped over to the right post and bounced back in front for Staal to knock in the second try. He flashed a sly smile as he celebrated with his teammates, the hat trick official.NOTESStaal’s last hat trick came with Carolina on Jan. 24, 2013, against Buffalo. This is the 10th time in 14 career seasons he’s reached the 60-point mark. He has 31 assists, third on the team. … Zucker reached a career-high 51 points (26 goals, 25 assists) with 19 games to go in the regular season. He has 11 points in his last six games, and Granlund has nine points in his last four games. … The Wild have scored eight goals twice before, last on April 10, 2009, against Nashville. … Wild defenseman Jonas Brodin (broken left hand) returned from a nine-game absence. … Allen has allowed at least three goals in four of his last five starts.UP NEXTBlues: Host Detroit on Wednesday, their only home contest out of seven games over a 19-day stretch until Mar. 15.Wild: Play at Arizona on Thursday, followed by a game at Colorado on Friday.— BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Upon failing to reach the 900-point plateau in Chicago before the Blackhawks opened a three-game road trip, Patrick Kane couldn’t think of a second-best place to do so than during his annual Buffalo homecoming.“You come here and you do it back at home with a lot of people here and a lot of people knowing that’s the 900th, it’s pretty exciting. It makes it even better Dallas Stars Hoodies Authentic ,” Kane said. “Yeah, it would’ve been nice to get it before, but now that it happened here, you think it worked out for a reason.”The 30-year-old from south Buffalo put on a show by scoring two goals and two assists in blasting through the milestone during a 7-3 win over the Sabres on Friday night.Kane capped the win with an empty-net goal in upping his career total to 903 points . He became the youngest U.S.-born player to reach 900 points, and moved ahead of Tony Amonte for 12th place among Americans.Kane also extended his point streak to 10 games, in which he has combined for nine goals and 16 assists.Though he was unable to make a side trip to his favorite pizza place, Kane had time to meet with about 50 members of his family and friends in the southeast corner of the arena before the Blackhawks flew to Minnesota for their game against the Wild on Saturday night.“It would’ve been nice to sneak it in,” Kane said, of popping in for a slice and wings. “Just going to have to wait for the summer.”Connor Murphy sealed the victory by converting Kane’s pass into the middle and snapping in a 30-footer through a screen to put Chicago up 5-3 with 8:36 remaining.Drake Caggiula had a goal and two assists, Brandon Saad scored twice and Duncan Keith also scored. Cam Ward stopped 40 shots and the Blackhawks avoided a brief scare before matching a season-best three-game win streak while coming off a nine-day break.Jason Pominville and Kyle Okposo scored goals 3:37 apart in cutting Chicago’s lead to 4-3 with 12:44 left. Jack Eichel also scored in a game the Sabres trailed 3-0 through the first 26:06 and 4-1 through two periods.Carter Hutton was yanked after allowing four goals on 22 shots through 40 minutes. Linus Ullmark finished, stopping five of seven shots in the third period.This was not how the Sabres intended to open a seven-game homestand while playing their first game in Buffalo in nearly three weeks, following a five-game road trip which also spanned an 11-day break.“You can’t win a game giving up seven goals,” Eichel said. “I think the learning experiences are far over now. We’re 50-some odd games into the season. … These mistakes are costing us points and that’s points in the standings that we can’t lose.”Buffalo dropped to 2-6 in its past eight and is 8-14-7 since matching a franchise-best 10-game winning streak in November.The Sabres failed to capitalize on numerous chances in the first period, and were outshooting the Blackhawks 14-6 before Caggiula scored with 1:22 left. Caggiula was set up alone in front by Gustav Forsling, who intercepted Sam Reinhart’s weak breakout pass attempt at the left point.Jeff Skinner’s turnover led to Erik Gustafsson setting up Kane for a breakaway goal 50 seconds into the second period. Keith Dallas Stars Hats Authentic , with an assist from Kane, converted his own rebound to put Chicago up 3-0 a little over four minutes later to break open the game.The 30-year-old Kane reached the 30-goal mark for the fourth time in his 12-year career. And he continued his domination in Buffalo, where Kane has scored a point in each of his eight visits in combining for seven goals and six assists.“Obviously, nice to score on your first shift in the second to give you some confidence,” Kane said, acknowledging he’s usually nervous before each game he plays in Buffalo.“I’m really happy for him,” Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. “It’s hard to come back and play in your hometown. Sometimes you’re pressing and it always doesn’t work.”NOTES: Kane became just the third Blackhawks player with five career point streaks of 10 games or longer, joining Denis Savard, who did it 11 times, and Bobby Hull (five). … Saad played his 500th career game. … Okposo scored on the power play, Buffalo’s first goal with the man advantage in seven games. The Sabres converted 1 of 3 power-play chances to improve their anemic production to 10 of 74 over their past27 games.UP NEXTBlackhawks: At Minnesota Wild on Saturday.Sabres: Enter three-day break before hosting Wild on Tuesday night.