Staal feels good in first game of season

PHILADELPHIA -- However disorienting it was to play a hockey game in a baseball stadium for all of Monday's participants, only one of them -- Rangers defenseman Marc Staal -- brought to it months of general confusion.

Having battled symptoms from a concussion the past 11 months, and missing from all 36 of the Rangers' previous games this season, Staal made his 2011-12 debut with a pitcher's mound just outside the penalty box, a pregame jet flyover and fake snow spread over the vast spaces between the rink and 46,967 fans.

"First shift, I felt lost," Staal said. The 24-year-old who went from an all-star season to his own personal moonscape of headaches and vertigo had been told only Sunday night by coach John Tortorella that he could play.

"I needed a 'yes' or 'no' " from trainer Jim Ramsay and Boston concussion specialist Dr. Robert Cantu, Tortorella said before the game. "I got a 'yes' from the trainer, I got a 'yes' from the doctor and, more important, I got a 'yes' from the player. If we were playing on a creek somewhere, he was going to play."

Staal saw his first ice time just two minutes into the game, once again wearing the alternate captain's "A'' on his sweater that had been inherited by former defensive partner Dan Girardi in his absence. Playing sparingly, Staal finished with a plus-1 rating, having been on the ice for the first of Mike Rupp's two goals midway through the second period.

"To be honest," Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist said, "I didn't know he was going to play. When I saw him on the ice, I was shocked. The confidence he will bring to our group will be big."

Staal got 20 shifts and 12:41 of ice time, including a few seconds on the penalty-kill unit.

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Staal said he "felt good; there are no issues, and I'm happy with that. When I got a good bump along the boards and got back to the bench, I kind of thought about it a little bit, but as the game wore on, I felt better physically and more comfortable. I bumped more than I got bumped. Nothing too crazy."

He had been told by Cantu on Sunday that "it doesn't matter if you get hit tomorrow or you get hit five days from now," Staal said, "it's not going to make a difference how it affects you . . . and there would be no problem jumping in."

He also spoke Sunday with his brother Jordan, the Pittsburgh forward who last year made his season debut in the Winter Classic after recovering from a hand injury. Jordan "came back early ,'' Marc said. "He had a cast on his hand, but he thought it was worth it; he loved playing in that game. But it's a little different situation with your head."