Staal to miss at least three games

Eric Staal has been a constant in the Carolina lineup for all but one game of his career, but he's going to miss at least the next three games. Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice described the "upper body" injury that knocked Staal out of Sunday's loss as a "week to week" proposition after practice on Tuesday. Staal missed the Hurricanes' game at Pittsburgh on March 19, 2004, near the end of his rookie season, with what was described then as a "torso" injury. He was back in the lineup the next night in Ottawa, and every game since, 342 regular-season and 44 playoff games in total, until Wednesday's game at the Florida Panthers.