SCENE OF THE CRIME

VANCOUVER, B.C. - The physical blemishes are long gone.
The memories?
Not quite.
Not even James Neal - an expert in player cosmetics - could easily forget the sudden extraction that marred his last visit to this building.

"That was brutal," the forward said this morning at Rogers Arena. "Who was that? (Canucks defenceman Alex) Biega?
"Biega, my gosh - that guy owes me dinner. That was a clean swipe across my jibs."
Eight teeth gone. Just like that.
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"I've spent so much time in a dental chair, I can't even explain it," Neal said. "It's such a mess. It's probably the sixth time I've had it happen to me, and it just gets worse and worse every time.
"My first year, I lost 14 - top and bottom. Jamie Benn hit me. It cut my lip a little bit, but it took out all my (real) teeth. I had just my back molars left. My mom and dad were like 10 rows up in the stands, and when I got back to the bench, Brenden Morrow was standing there like (shocked face) and he started howling.
"I was less amused.
"Today? Feeling good."
Thankfully, he can smile about it now.
Sidelined with an upper-body injury that occurred only days after that freak, facial scare, the forward has missed more than a month of action - 17 games in all. But with a nice new set of pearly-white teeth, Neal, too, is feeling fresh and ready to go.
"It felt like a long time, but my body feels good and I'm excited to get going," Neal said. "It's nice [to get a few games in before the playoffs], for sure. I've been skating lots. I took the rest I needed to heal up and it's good that I'm coming back at a time like this. I'm coming back at full speed and ready to go again."

Neal, who's tallied no fewer than 21 goals in each of his 10 campaigns, and was once a 40-goal man with the Pittsburgh Penguins, would be the first to admit his inaugural season in Flames dye has not gone as planned.
But, if there's anything pragmatic to pull from a lengthy and unplanned absence, the prospect of resetting and starting anew certainly appeals.
"It's always tough when you get injured, but for me, the way it was going, I just kind of took it as a positive, rested up and got ready for a big playoff run," Neal said. "I definitely feel re-energized. I feel strong and ready to go now.
"This is the time when I feel I'm at my best.
"That being said, I came here to win. I came here to want to be in this position. You always love to score and you want to score as many as you can, but I'd rather have five goals and our team in first place than 45 and us out of the playoffs."
Neal will take over for the injured Sam Bennett on third-line left wing, joining Mark Jankowski and Austin Czarnik, and will also be a fixture on the second powerplay unit tonight.
Head coach Bill Peters cautioned that while Neal is 100% and fully up to speed based on the work he's put in during practice, the pace of the game has picked up over the past month or so, and it will take some getting used to in a live-bullet environment.
"It's going to take him a little bit," Peters said. "The league right now is at a real high pace. Best pace that we've seen all year, and there's a lot of desperation among the teams that are either trying to get home ice or secure a spot in the playoffs.
"It'll be fast for him, but I know that each and every shift he'll get better.
"He's got an edge - a physical edge. He's hard on pucks, he holds onto pucks in the offensive zone, is real good with the young guys on the bench. ... He's real good about talking about what has to happen and how to play the game at this time of the year."

Neal, 31, has been to the playoffs in eight straight years with the Penguins, Nashville Predators and Vegas Golden Knights. As a bigger body with good hands, his understanding 'playoff hockey,' along with his ability to become a consistent, secondary contributor could be a boost for this already lethal Flames offence.
In the meantime - and without looking too far into the future - Neal is enjoying the ride as the Flames chase down their first division title in 13 years.
That's the only carrot that matters.
"I'm happy and proud of the way our guys have played all year," Neal said. "We've got a great group of guys, we're tight and we have fun with each other every day.
"I've loved being a part of this team. This is a time when the hockey gets a little harder, the weather gets nicer and everything combined, it's a lot of fun right now."