Staal's top five moments from a resurgent season

Eric Staal paced the Wild with 42 goals, joining elite company in surmounting the
40-goal plateau
. Take a look at the top five highlights from his All-Star-Worthy season.

5. Staal's golden against the Knights

The Wild was strong against the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in the team's inaugural year, becoming one of only two teams to complete a season sweep. Staal, who picked up four goals and two assists in three games, was a key part of that.
In both games at Xcel Energy Center, Staal found twine twice, including setting up -- and then capping off -- a pretty tic-tac-toe goal on the power play, getting the Wild on the board.

4. Staal does it all against former team

A strong single-handed, 200-foot effort from Staal against the New York Rangers garnered an early lead for the Wild on Feb. 13, lighting the lamp just more than three minutes into the game.
He picked up a pass in the Wild's defensive zone, which was stolen by Nick Holden at center ice. Immediately rushing in, Staal picked the Ranger's pocket before he even knew what was happening, and raced down the ice toward Henrik Lundqvist. Flanked by Nino Niederreiter in what developed into a 2-on-1, Staal wristed the puck past Lundqvist for a beauty of a goal.

3. Staal ties the game on the power play

Going into the third period of the Nov. 16 home game against the Nashville Predators, things weren't looking too bright for the Wild. Battling back from an 0-3 hole with two goals late in the second period, the home team's hopes appeared to be dashed when the Predators widened the margin less than a minute into the final stanza.
But with just over seven minutes remaining, Minnesota kicked things into gear -- thanks in large part to a strong effort from Staal. He picked up the secondary assist on Ryan Suter's goal to draw his team within one, then took things into his own hands to score the tying goal less than two minutes later.
Minnesota would build on its momentum to score two more for a total of four goals in the last seven minutes of the game, downing its division rivals.

2. Staal scores his 42nd to tie a franchise record

The forward picked up his 42nd goal with just 26 seconds remaining in the regular season, sneaking in right under the deadline to tie Marian Gaborik's record of goals in a single campaign.
While it may not have been the most difficult goal of his career, the empty-netter certainly earned its place as a memorable one.
"It's cool," said the Wild forward after that game against the Sharks on April 7. "This is a great franchise, there's been great players here in the past, and to get your name mentioned alongside Marian … means something special."

1. Staal makes sure fans' hats don't go to waste

Hockey arenas, especially Xcel Energy Center, are loud atmospheres. So the crowd of 19,261 on Feb. 27 could be forgiven for missing the announcement that what seemed to be Staal's first goal of the night had been changed to Mikael Granlund.
When what the crowd thought was Staal's third found the back of the net, hats aplenty flew down to the ice.
But it was just his second.
Luckily for the fans who threw their hats prematurely, Staal found his way back onto the scoresheet later in the dominant 8-3 win over St. Louis. A few more hats trickled down to the ice from the few who hadn't lost their headwear earlier, and Staal had his 14th career hat trick -- and first since 2013 -- in the books.

Related:
- Eric Staal talks offseason training](https://www.nhl.com/wild/video/eric-staal-on-summer-training/c-60196203) - Staal aims for repeat performance next season - Staal's dream season part of career resurgence in Minnesota