Last night, we saw a glimpse of greatness when Tyler Toffoli intercepted a puck and scored on a breakaway for the game winning goal. It looked like opposing goalie, Reto Berra, was starstruck on the play. He barely moved when Toffoli put it right by his glove hand. Take a look for yourself if you missed it last night…
We’re 5 games into the season and Toffoli leads the team with 3 goals. And he seems to be an elite player on special teams where 1 goal has been scored on the power play and another on the penalty kill. Not to mention, he led the league last year in shorthanded goals last season with 5. Kings fans are seeing a young sniper continue to find his place in the NHL.
Toffoli has been a scorer in every league he’s played. In his final 2 seasons of junior hockey in the OHL, he put up 109 goals in 133 games while totaling 208 points. That’s a LOT of production. And then at the AHL level, he did the same. In one full season, he had 51 points in 58 games as a rookie only to be called up halfway through the following season.
At the NHL level, it was during the 2012-13 playoffs that we saw glimpses of greatness from Toffoli…especially against the Blackhawks. I think Toffoli could be titled a Blackhawk killer. One of my favorites was the following goal…
Nothing fancy but every hockey player knows that shot was wicked fast considering he had no time to get it off. In the 2013-14 season, 5 of his 12 goals were game winners. That’s a high percentage of goals coming in clutch. But that’s what we’re seeing Toffoli become.
CLUTCH.
Last season, Toffoli led the team in SHG and + / -. He put up 23 goals and 49 points in 76 games in just his second full season with the Kings. He missed a short stint when he went down with mononucleosis in January, but still put up some great numbers playing alongside Jeff Carter.
Toffoli has never been praised for his skating ability which has been somewhat average. But everyone has seen his ability to be a game changer with a shot that snipes as well as other top scorers in the league. And he seems to have taken his off-season prep work very seriously based on how quick he was able to accelerate to his breakaway goal on Berra.
One has to wonder if Toffoli will have yet another breakout year. Maybe he’ll put up 30 goals? Or even 40? At this rate, I think 30 is a guarantee but let’s hope it’s even more. His chemistry alongside Jeff Carter is unreal. The two of them have a 6th sense for each other on the ice. Carter provides the speed to back off the defense and make space for his line mates. This is the perfect compliment to a player like Toffoli who makes the most of every chance he gets with open ice.
Toffoli is emerging into a star to be reckoned with. Let’s hope the Kings can lock up this kid long-term.
Next: Los Angeles Kings: Saturday Round-up
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