It has been a long six games and 12 days since Eric Staal last registered a point for the Carolina Hurricanes.
Staal's slump is the latest low point in a highly underwhelming campaign for the team's captain, who turned 30 this past October.
No. 12 sports a mere 19 goals and 24 assists in 66 appearances this season, putting him on pace for his worst full-length season since 2003-04. He's found the back of the net just three times in Carolina's last 24 games and now trails complete non-superstars like Colin Wilson, Matt Beleskey and Anders Lee on the NHL goal-scoring leaderboard.
Head coach Bill Peters has revolved a number of forwards around Staal in a (so far) futile attempt to jump-start the center-turned-winger.
He dropped Staal's ice time to 15:12 on Thursday in Montreal—the lowest it's been (when not affected by injury) since Feb. 25, 2011—then spiked it back to 20:05 Saturday against the Rangers.
Staal also played separately from brother Jordan in Montreal, then rejoined him vs. New York.
Neither tactic proved particularly effective, as Staal tallied two more box score ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Mark Jones
Should Carolina Hurricanes Be Worried About Eric Staal’s Declining Production?
March 22nd, 2015 by Mark Jones Leave a reply »
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