RALEIGH, N.C. _ Not much was made of Eric Staal's return Thursday to PNC Arena.
There was no video tribute by the Carolina Hurricanes. No ovation from Canes fans for the former Carolina captain, who was treated like any other visiting player at PNC Arena.
What Staal wanted was a victory for the Minnesota Wild, but the Hurricanes won 3-1 as goalie Eddie Lack had 31 saves, six against Staal.
Victor Rask's goal at 16:36 of the third period gave the Canes a 2-1 lead. It came after Lack, given the start by Canes coach Bill Peters, made a handful of quality stops as the Wild pressed in the offensive zone.
Teuvo Teravainen added an empty-net score as the Canes added to Minnesota's recent slide _ the Wild have lost five of the past six.
Derek Ryan had a power-play goal for the Canes and Mikael Granlund a short-handed goal for the Wild, both in the first period. But in a tight-checking game, good scoring chances were scarce and the goalies _ Lack for Carolina, Devan Dubnyk for the Wild _ kept it 1-1 into the third.
The Wild, battling the Chicago Blackhawks for the Central Division lead, was denied early in the third when Lack made a scrambling glove save on Charlie Coyle. With less than five minutes left in regulation, Lack made three rapid-fire saves _ on Staal, Coyle and Matt Dumba _ in a wild flurry around the crease.
Moments later, Staal got off back-to-back shots, but Lack again made the stops. Then, Rask scored.
Peters didn't send Jordan Staal out for the opening faceoff against Eric Staal, using rookie center Lucas Wallmark. Nor were the two Staal brothers on the ice against each other a lot.
Eric Staal, who has 23 goals this season, had a scoring chance early in the game and later in the first period but was denied by Eddie Lack.
Ryan gave the Canes the game's first goal after Canes defenseman Ryan Murphy was tripped by the Wild's Ryan White. Ryan followed up the rebound of a Noah Hanifin shot, backhanding the puck past Dubnyk at the post.
For much of the first period, the Wild had the look of a fatigued team at the end of a five-game road trip. But Granlund changed that.
The Canes, with another power play, had a smooth entry into the zone but Jeff Skinner's pass to Hanifin at the point resulted in a turnover. Granlund beat Lack for the shorthanded score and just like that the Wild was energized and more engaged.
The Canes had two power plays in the final eight minutes of the second, two chances to take the lead, but couldn't get quality shots on net.
Skinner briefly left the game in third after it appeared Minnesota's Tyler Graovac caught the Canes forward on the leg with a skate.
