Wesley's longevity results in a numbers game

RALEIGH -- Back when Glen Wesley played in his 1,000th NHL game in January 2001, it looked like he might, at age 34, be close to wrapping up his career.

Seven seasons later, the Carolina Hurricanes defenseman is still going. In Saturday's 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers, Wesley became the 26th player -- and 10th defenseman -- to play in 1,400 games after turning 39 last month.

"You never think about the numbers, to be honest," Wesley said. "Five hundred is a big milestone. Then you get to 700 and it's like, 'Oh, wow -- you've got to play another 300 to get to 1,000.' "

Paul Coffey is the next defenseman on the list at 1,409; if he played in every game this season, Wesley could work his way up to sixth, passing Coffey, Harry Howell, Al MacInnis and Tim Horton.

Wesley wasn't the only Carolina player setting records for durability Saturday. Eric Staal played in his 193rd consecutive game, breaking Ron Francis' record since the franchise moved to North Carolina in 1997. Dave Tippett holds the franchise mark of 419.

Staal has missed only one game in his four-season NHL career: March 19, 2004, at the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"I've just missed that one," Staal said. "I guess I could have played, but I really was hurting. I had a hip pointer pretty bad."

Staal went into Saturday also needing two goals for 100 in his career. If he can do it in the next 12 games, he'll be the sixth-fastest to the century mark -- ahead of Francis, who did it in 277 games.

RECOVERING: Niclas Wallin returned to the lineup Saturday after missing nine of the previous 10 games with a groin injury -- and exactly two weeks removed from surgery on his right shoulder.

Wallin decided to have his shoulder cleaned up while he waited for his groin to recover, but returned to action a full week ahead of schedule.

"Obviously Nicky is a big strong defenseman," Hurricanes coach Peter Laviolette said. "He's a horse out there. He can play against the other team's top players."

Wallin's return coincided with a Carolina defensive performance that was substantially improved over the previous few games. Not only had the Hurricanes been outscored a combined 9-2 in losses Wednesday and Friday, but they had allowed three or more goals in each of the previous five games.

"It was great to see Nicky back in the lineup," Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward said. "He looked very strong, like he always does, and the defense played great. When there were rebounds they were there, and they cleared the way for me to see the puck."

TAILWINDS: An FSN South broadcast of a Hurricanes game is one of three nominees for a MidSouth Regional Emmy in the sports event/game category. ... Bret Hedican wore an extended face shield for the second straight game to protect his injured jaw. ... After nine straight games against the Southeast Division -- Carolina went 5-4-0 -- the Hurricanes will face the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday. ... The home games on consecutive days -- the Hurricanes lost to the Atlanta Thrashers 3-0 Friday -- were the first at the RBC Center since November 2003.