Staal nets assist in triumphant Olympic return

Just two days after claiming Olympic gold, Eric Staal was back on the ice with the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

Staal had an assist, his 31st of the year, helping the visiting Hurricanes down the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-1 at the Air Canada Centre.

Staal, who had a goal and five assists playing for Team Canada, who downed Team USA 3-2 on Sidney Crosby’s OT goal on Sunday to claim gold, has 51 points in 50 games this season.
Chad Larose, Jussi Jokinen, Brandon Sutter, Tuomo Ruutui and Sergei Samsonov also scored for Carolina. John Mitchell scored Toronto’s lone goal, with just over four minutes to play in the third.

In other NHL action Tuesday night, Montreal started the post-Olympic break on the right foot, scoring four third period goals to down Boston 4-1. Thunder Bay’s Tom Pyatt had a pair of assists for the Habs, and now has three points in his rookie campaign.

At Long Island, Blake Comeau scored three times, leading the New York Islanders to an upset win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

At Atlanta, Todd White netted the winner early in the second, handing the pre-Chris Chelios Thrashers a 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers. Chelios has signed a deal with Atlanta and will join the team after he clears waivers for a record-tying 26th NHL season.

At Columbus, Christian Ehrhoff’s OT goal was the difference in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blue Jackets.

At Ottawa, Ryan Callahan scored twice to lead the New York Rangers to a 4-1 over the Senators.

Elsewhere it was Pittsburgh over Buffalo 3-2, Edmonton was edged 4-3 by Nashville, Philadelphia trounced Tampa Bay 7-2, thanks in part to a four-point effort from Kenora’s Mike Richards, who like Staal also won gold in Vancouver. Fellow Olympian Chris Pronger of Dryden had an assist.

In other early action it was Los Angeles over Dallas 5-1.