It was a wild night for Eric Staal.
The Minnesota center registered his 400th career goal Saturday night against the St. Louis Blues. His milestone goal gave the Wild a 1-0 lead 4:42 into the first period as he won the faceoff back to the point and redirected Nick Seeler's pass over goaltender Jake Allen. Seeler would score his first career goal less than a minute later.
No matter the angle or the shot, Eric Staal finds ways to score. 400 times to be precise. #MINvsSTL pic.twitter.com/Epm9l0jLAN
— NHL (@NHL) November 4, 2018
Staal, 34, is the 96th player in NHL history to reach the 400 goal plateau. The second-overall pick in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, Staal is now one of six active players in the 400-goal club, joining Alex Ovechkin, Patrick Marleau, Ilya Kovalchuk, Sidney Crosby and Marian Gaborik.
Face off to 400. Congrats, Eric! pic.twitter.com/QrGx695BdL
— NHLPA (@NHLPA) November 4, 2018
Questions arose during the 2015-16 season if Staal's career was on the downturn as he netted only 13 goals and 26 assists between the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers. However, he bounced back in 2016-17 and 2017-18 with 28 and 42 goals, respectively.
In 13 games this season, Staal has posted five goals and six assists. For his career, Staal has tallied 933 points in 1,106 games through 15 seasons.