As happy as the Hurricanes were to see Sergei Samsonov score his first goal of the season Tuesday, they know they have a bigger issue with “the big guy,” as Ray Whitney put it.

The 2-1 win over Montreal was Eric Staal’s eighth consecutive game without a goal, and he has scored only once in the past 12 games.

To put this in perspective, Staal has gone eight or more games without a goal only four times since the lockout, with his longest drought weighing in at nine games. (As a rookie in 2003-04, he went 33 games without a goal.) So this is unusual stuff for Staal, who has five goals in 19 games this season.

From Talking Points:

As happy as the Hurricanes were to see Sergei Samsonov score his first goal of the season Tuesday, they know they have a bigger issue with “the big guy,” as Ray Whitney put it.

The 2-1 win over Montreal was Eric Staal’s eighth consecutive game without a goal, and he has scored only once in the past 12 games.

To put this in perspective, Staal has gone eight or more games without a goal only four times since the lockout, with his longest drought weighing in at nine games. (As a rookie in 2003-04, he went 33 games without a goal.) So this is unusual stuff for Staal, who has five goals in 19 games this season.

Read more here.

ANAHEIM -- Center Eric Staal, who injured a shoulder Friday against the Los Angeles Kings, should play today against the Anaheim Ducks, Canes coach Peter Laviolette said.

Michael Leighton will get the start in goal, Laviolette said. Cam Ward was in goal against the Kings in the 4-3 overtime loss and has started the last two games. In his only start, Leighton was the winner in the Canes' 4-3 overtime win at Tampa Bay.

Rookie forward Zach Boychuk made his NHL debut against the Kings but was held out of the third period. He opened the game on the line with Rod Brind'Amour and Sergei Samsonov, but
Laviolette bumped up Chad LaRose or Dan LaCouture during the third.

"A 3-2 game, the kid hasn't played in a while, I just didn't want to put him in a situation he was uncomfortable with," Laviolette said today.

Eric Staal was held out of the Canes' practice today at the Toyota Center but is expected to play Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks.

Staal injured his right shoulder during a first-period collision Friday night in the 4-3 overtime loss to the LA Kings. After being taken to the locker room, he returned to the game, ended up playing more than 22 minutes and had seven shots on goal in the game.

Staal has played in 258 consecutive games, the longest for the Hurricanes since the team relocated to North Carolina in 1997.

The Canes' Eric Staal put in 26 minutes of ice time Monday in the 3-1 loss to Detroit, leading Red Wings coach Mike Babcock to say Staal's play was impressive but that "he's going to be dead by Christmas" with that kind of workload.

Staal said today that it was a matter of being caught up in a competitive game, against the defending Stanley Cup champions, and the Canes trailing by a goal most of the second and third periods.

"It was one of those games where we were going over the boards, looking to get that goal to tie it up," he said. "They're a tough team to play against and it was tough to generate some chances. We were pushing as hard as we could to get it, but it wasn't close enough."

Canes center Eric Staal will not play in tonight's second preseason exhibition game in Washington. Staal also missed the opener Wednesday night, a 4-1 loss to the Caps.

But Canes coach Peter Laviolette wanted to make one thing clear today: Staal is not injured.

"He is not injured. HE is not injured," Laviolette said, adding the emphasis. "The way that (treatment) room is filling up already, there's really no need for him to get into these first two games. He came in as one of the top fit athletes in camp.

"I don't really know what he gains from getting in a game and getting beat up a little bit. He'll have to play some games but I think we'll try to move him in a little later in camp."

A snag over the wording of Eric Staal's new seven-year contract extension has been resolved, Staal and Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said today.

Under the terms of the $57.75 million contract, which Staal signed ast week, a no-trade clause was to go into effect July 1, 2010, the date the Canes center is to become an unrestricted free agent. The NHL found issue with that date, Rutherford said. The contract was changed and will be sent back to the league office.

"It was just the wording of the clause," Rutherford said. "Eric must accrue so many games and be a certain age before the clause goes into effect."

RALEIGH — The Carolina Hurricanes and star center Eric Staal have signed a seven-year contract that will play the All-Star an average $8.25 million a year, the team announced today.

The total deal is worth $57.75 million.

"This won't change the way I play hockey. I play to win," Staal said. "This won't change my game. I'm a competititve guy. The numbers won't be in my head. I'll do my thing."

The Hurricanes have called a news conference today at 2 p.m. to make a "major player announcement" and it's expected the team will announce star center Eric Staal formally has been signed to a long-term contract.

Canes general manager Jim Rutherford said Tuesday that a signing could come soon. No figures were disclosed. It's possible Staal could receive a seven-year contract that would pay the NHL All-Star between $7 million and $10 million a year.

Staal's agent, Rick Curran, was at the RecZone this morning as Staal and the other Hurricanes players worked out. Curran would not comment on the the press conference, but said he hoped "good news" would come out of it.

Check back for more updates as the story develops.

RALEIGH — The Hurricanes have a new look.

The team unveiled its new alternate uniform today at the RBC Center, with center Eric Staal, goalie Cam Ward and defenseman Tim Gleason modeling the uniforms.

"We're very proud of our traditional uniforms,'' Canes general manager Jim Rutherford said. "But after 10 seasons in North Carolina, we felt like it was time to introduce an additional look for our team."