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Neal produced 19 goals and 31 points in 55 games prior to the pause of play in mid-March.
After a one-year stopover in Calgary that produced mediocre results (seven goals, 12 assists in 63 games), Neal has looked a lot better in his new digs this season. For a guy that rang up 40 (!), 21, 27, 23, 31, 23 and 25 goals, respectively, prior to last year's dud in Cow Town, it's certainly nice to see him knocking on the door of the 20-goal plateau again. Twelve of the 32-year-old's goals have come on the power play, where he's averaged the most time since 2013-14 with 2:53 per game, which is a role that lends itself to sustained production in a top six that features the league's two top scorers in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Skeptics will point to Neal's 17.0 shooting percentage this year and warn that regression is inevitable. They might be right considering his career mark is 11.9 percent over 821 games, but the fact remains that Neal's scoring in Edmonton would equate to 28 goals over a full season - and that's valuable in a lot of settings.
