ST. PAUL Semyon Varlamov Jersey , Minn. (AP) In a story April 3 about NHL player Eric Staal, The Associated Press misidentified the location of his Canadian hometown. Thunder Bay is located in Ontario.A corrected version of the story is below:With 40 goals for playoffs-bound Wild, Staal has right fitWith 40 goals for playoffs-bound Wild, Staal has found right place for career resurgenceBy DAVE CAMPBELLAP Sports WriterST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Eric Staal was coming 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 Sergei Boikov Jersey , 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, 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 Youth Jake McCabe Jersey , 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, 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 Jason Pominville Jersey Kids , 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, 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, Ontario, 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 Womens Johan Larsson Jersey , 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.”— TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Tuukka Rask and the stubborn Boston Bruins stymied the Tampa Bay Lightning – and got even closer in the standings.Rask stopped 23 shots to hand Tampa Bay its first shutout of the season and lifted the Bruins over the Lightning 3-0 on Saturday night.It was Rask’s third shutout of the season and 41st of his career. It was also the first time the Lightning failed to score a goal since a 4-0 loss at Boston on April 4, 2017 – also against Rask.”It’s playoff hockey,” Boston coach Bruce Cassidy said, ”and I thought we were better at it than they were tonight.”David Pastrnak, David Backes and Riley Nash all scored for Boston, which moved within two points of the Lightning for the top spot in the Eastern Conference with one game in hand. Torey Krug assisted on all three of the Bruins’ goals.But the Bruins hope the win didn’t come at a high cost.The Bruins played the final two periods without Backes, who left following a scary incident late in the first period. As Backes tumbled to the ice and fell into the crease area, the back of Yanni Gourde’s skate appeared to make contact just below Backes’ right knee. Backes immediately grabbed his leg. As he was making his way to the Boston bench, blood appeared to seep through his pants as he was rushed back to the locker room.The Bruins reported that Backes was resting after suffering a laceration on his knee that required approximately 18 stitches to close. Cassidy reported there was no structural damage.”I think the concern is probably when you have those deep cuts is infection, so that’s usually a couple of days to see how it heals up,” Cassidy said. ”I don’t want to say he dodged a bullet because it’s an unfortunate accident Authentic Justin Bailey Jersey , but it looks like he’ll be OK.”Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 24 shots for the Lightning, whose last shutout at home came on March 16, 2017, by Toronto’s Frederik Andersen. Tampa Bay has lost consecutive games for the first time since going 9-0-1 in the previous 10 games.”Now is the time when you really have to look yourself in the mirror and really push yourself and hammer down on the details,” Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman said. ”We have to step up, we have to work. That was a good test. We got outplayed and now we have to raise the bar.”Pastrnak opened the scoring with his 28th goal of the season, getting a step ahead of Mikhail Sergachev coming down the slot to take a pass from Krug and slip a backhander past Vasilevskiy 3:07 in to the game.Backes scored his 12th off a rebound in front for the first of two Boston power-play goals on the night.Nash increased the lead to 3-0 in the second period with his 14th of the season.”We’ve been talking about trying to get back to our identity and playing solid defense and finding our offense through that,” Rask said. ”Today we shut it down, came back hard and played solid, solid defense and scored three goals.”NOTES: Tampa Bay recalled G Louis Domingue from Syracuse of the American Hockey League before the game and he dressed as the backup. … Boston improved to 32-0-3 this season when holding a two-goal lead at any point in the game. … The Lightning have allowed five power-play goals in the past three games and at least one power-play goal in 11 of the past 12. … Boston D Zdeno Chara missed his second consecutive game with an unspecified upper-body injury.UP NEXT:Lightning: Host Edmonton Oilers on Sunday.Bruins: Host Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday.