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Hurricanes hope Staal can play vs. Coyotes

Feb 7, 2009 - 12:49 PM Carolina (26-22-5) at Phoenix (24-24-5), 9:00 p.m. EST

GLENDALE, Arizona (Ticker) -- Despite a scare, the Carolina Hurricanes expect their lone All-Star to return to the ice.

After sitting out the third period of the team's last contest with a lower body injury, Eric Staal is expected to play when the Hurricanes visit the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday.

Staal, who leads Carolina with 22 goals this season, was taken out as a precautionary measure and saw his club win for the fifth time in seven tries.

Sergei Samsonov scored in regulation and netted the decisive goal in the third round of the shootout Thursday, lifting the Hurricanes to a 4-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks.

Tuomo Ruutu also tallied in the shootout and Michael Leighton made 37 saves before forcing San Jose's Ryane Clowe and Joe Pavelski to shoot wide in the bonus format. Leighton had not started since suffering a 3-2 setback to the Minnesota Wild on December 23, a span of 17 games.

Matt Cullen converted a penalty shot and added an assist and Ray Whitney also scored for the Hurricanes, who clearly rebounded from a previous five-game skid from January 8-17.

The injury-stricken Coyotes will welcome back center Steven Reinprecht and defenseman Derek Morris in this contest but continue to be without second-year center Peter Mueller, who is out indefinitely with a concussion.

Phoenix, which has lost five straight, is coming off a 5-4 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday. Prior to that contest, the Coyotes notched just one tally in their previous three games combined.