By Trey Snide

Special from Thr3 & Out

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The Carolina Hurricanes paid tribute to former player Eric Staal Thursday night in Raleigh during their game vs the NY Rangers.

“I thought it was really cool actually,” Staal said. “When you’re somewhere as long as I’ve been there’s an attachment to the area, to the people. For them to do something like that it kind of brings back a lot of memories. A lot of pictures, I was pretty young in some of them, long locks. Some moments you never forget so that was pretty cool. I’m thankful people took time to come up with pictures like that and memories I’ll remember forever.” (Yahoosports)

“As hockey players, [being part of a team] is what we are and what the culture is. It’s not about you,” Staal said after the Blueshirts’ 4-3 defeat here Thursday. “When something like this occurs, it can be awkward. It was different, but it was special at the same time. It doesn’t happen very often.” (NYPost)

The Penguins and Islanders won Thursday night, so the Rangers (43-25-9) slipped to third place in the Metropolitan Division, one point behind the Penguins.

The Islanders, meanwhile, are just two points behind and have played one fewer game, leaving the Rangers in danger of slipping into a wild-card spot and having to face one of the Eastern Conference’s division winners in the first round.

Lundqvist made 24 saves for the Rangers while Cam Ward stopped 24 shots for the Hurricanes (34-28-16), who snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Blueshirts.