Pressure no problem for Hurricanes center

Eric Staal is leading all players in playoff points and shots.
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Eric Staal thrived during the regular season, the young talent powering a Carolina Hurricanes team built on fast skating. The only question was how he would handle the pressure of his first playoffs.
Now, with the Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference finals, Staal is providing a definitive answer.
The 21-year-old center is leading all players in playoff points and shots heading into Game 5 with Buffalo tonight. That includes points in 14 straight games, the NHL's longest postseason streak in a dozen years, following a 100-point regular season.
"As long as I can keep that going, the better," Staal said Saturday. "I'm feeling good going into every game. I want the puck, I want to be out there in those situations. That's the confidence I'm feeling right now, and hopefully we can keep it going."
Staal has seven goals and 12 assists during his franchise-record playoff point streak, extending that run with a goal during Friday's 4-0 road win that tied the series 2-2.
It's the longest streak since Pavel Bure went 16 straight games for Vancouver in 1994, and is four short of the record set by New York Islanders forward Bryan Trottier in 1981.
Strong stats
In addition to those playoff-high 19 points in 15 games, Staal ranks first in shots (64), second in assists and tied for fifth in goals. He also has excelled on the power play, sharing first in goals (five), sharing fourth in assists (six) and sharing first in points with the man advantage.
That follows a regular season in which he finished with 45 goals and 55 assists while playing in all 82 games, ranking sixth in the NHL in points and eighth in goals.
"This is just more of the same, and I don't say that to be so blase, that this happens all the time," coach Peter Laviolete said. "But this is what we expect now from Eric Staal. He's proven himself to be a great player in the regular season and now he's proving himself to be a great player in the playoffs."
Staal managed 11 goals and 20 assists as a rookie in 2003-04, then spent the lockout season playing for Carolina's American Hockey League affiliate.
Editor's note: Saturday's Mighty Ducks-Oilers game ended too late for this edition.
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