SEARCHING FOR SCORING TOUCH

Neal keen to contribute more

James Neal was hoping his return trip to Capital One Arena would come a whole lot sooner.

On Sunday, June 10, to be specific.

Game 6 of the 2018 Stanley Cup final was slated for that night in D.C.

Except that the Washington Capitals ended the championship series — and the Cinderella-like story of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights — three evenings earlier in Sin City, a long-awaited celebration for Alex Ovechkin & Co. and a second straight heartbreaker for Neal.

“You just try not to think about that. I’ve moved on,” Neal said after Thursday’s practice in Arlington, Va., just across the Potomac River from the White House, Washington Monument and the rest of the landmarks of the U.S. Capitol. “Obviously, it sucks what happened, but you have to move on quickly, especially when you are changing teams. I think it would be a little bit different if I was still with Vegas and coming back here.”

Instead, Neal returns to Capital One Arena as a member of the Calgary Flames, who are in this government town for Friday’s back-from-the-bye battle with the Capitals (5 p.m. MT, Sportsnet West/Sportsnet 960 The Fan).

It’s been nine days between games for the Western Conference-leading Flames and you could argue nobody needed the reset more than the 31-year-old Neal.

To say this season hasn’t gone as planned for the prized free-agent addition — signed this past summer to a five-year payday with an annual cap-hit of US$5.75-million — would be a major understatement.

In a decade of employment at hockey’s highest level, Neal has never scored fewer than 21 times in a single campaign, and that happened to be during a lockout-shortened slate.

Through 49 contests in the Flaming C, he has mustered only five markers. He’s on pace for nine … if you round up.

Neal has totalled a dozen points so far in 2018-19.

A dozen of his Flames teammates have done more offensive damage.

“I think if you’re doing the right things and you’re playing the right way, that stuff will come,” Neal reasoned. “If your team is not winning and you’re not contributing, then it’s a problem. But when your team is playing really well and you’re winning hockey games, then things are good.

“Obviously, it has been a bit of a tough stretch at the start of the year for me. But that being said, I love the way our team has played. I came here to win, and I’ll do anything to be a part of a winning team.

“So I’m really happy with the way our guys have played and I’ll try to contribute everything I can to that.”

That is perhaps what makes Neal the most fascinating of Flames as the schedule shifts into the stretch drive.

The crew from Calgary has rolled to a 33-13-5 record so far, six points clear of the next-best bunch in the Pacific Division standings.

As analysts and insiders start to craft trade-deadline shopping-lists for each of the could-be contenders, the consensus is the Flames would like to add some depth scoring.

Seems reasonable enough, especially considering the steep drop-off from their 50-point forwards — first-liners Johnny Gaudreau (73), Sean Monahan (61) and Elias Lindholm (58), plus power-play pal Matthew Tkachuk (57) — to the supporting-casters.

Thing is, they have a proven marksman on their third line who just hasn’t proven it so far this season.

If Neal can chip in on a more regular basis, the Flames will be better for it, no matter who they might acquire over the next few weeks.

“For me, I’m just going to continue to get better,” said Neal, whose lengthy resume includes 100 playoff appearances and trips to the Stanley Cup final with the Nashville Predators in 2017 and the Golden Knights last spring. “I think we have a great team here. I think you use your experience, you use your presence, you use everything that I have learned throughout my career about what you have to do to be going into playoffs, what you have to do in playoffs.

“I feel better,” he added later. “It’s not easy changing teams. I’ve been learning and getting comfortable with your linemates — all those things go into it — and I think as we go on, you’re going to see a more comfortable player.

“But like I said, as long as our team is winning, I’m all good.”