Toffoli's nose for the net proves critical in key victory
Tyler Toffoli is not the biggest player on the ice, and there are certainly faster and more elegant skaters out there, but his scoring touch is elite.
The 6-foot, 198-pound winger found the perfect time to end a season-high six-game goalless drought. Toffoli scored both Montreal goals, including the winner with slightly more than four minutes left in the third period, as the Canadiens earned a hardfought 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames Friday night at the Bell Centre.
Toffoli, signed by Montreal to a four-year, Us$17-million contract last October — one of numerous moves made by general manager Marc Bergevin to reshape the team — has 21 goals and 32 points through 38 games.
There are many NHL players who would consider a 20-goal campaign over 82 games a success — not that Toffoli was comfortable talking about himself.
“Coming in, having a good start and the team having a lot of confidence in me,” the 28-year-old said about his success this season. “To be put out there in big, key situations gives you the confidence. I'm just trying to work and be consistent. I'm just trying to be a big part of this team.”
Toffoli had a team-high five shots and played a physical game, delivering four hits.
Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen, who faced Toffoli, the former Los Angeles King and Vancouver Canuck, many times while a member of the St. Louis Blues, was more eloquent while describing the forward's assets.
“He's always had that scoring touch,” Allen said. "He sort of just knows where to go. When he gets his chances, the majority of the time, they're going in or coming close to going in. He just has that knack for the net. He's a smart player.
“He's not the fastest guy in the world, but if you have a better mind you don't need to be fast,” Allen continued. “You just have to know where the puck is, anticipate the play. Once it's on the stick it's off the stick. That's the way it's got to be if you want to score in this league. He's done a hell of a job for us this year.”
Allen hasn't been too shabby, either. Playing his sixth-consecutive game for the injured Carey Price — who might return Saturday afternoon against Ottawa — Allen continued to be haunted by a lack of offence.
In this six-game stretch, Montreal has scored only 11 goals, four of which came in one game, against Toronto, requiring Allen to be near perfect. And on this night, he nearly was. Indeed, he would have recorded his first shutout this season had not an errant Elias Lindholm third-period shot deflected past him off the skate of defenceman Ben Chiarot, who made his return after missing 15 games with a broken hand.
Allen stopped all but one of the 29 shots he faced for a .966 save percentage.
“I'm going to have a lot worse goals that go in on me than that,” said Allen, who estimated 20 per cent of goals deflect off players. “There are so many variables that are uncontrollable. You're going to get good bounces, bad bounces. That was a bad one. It's a game of inches.”
But the hockey gods have a way of evening things out. Allen, who recorded only his third win in his last 13 starts, also had three shots deflect off the post in the second period — two on the same power play.
“You're going to have stretches where every post goes in on you and stretches where every post's going to go out,” he explained. “That's hockey.”
This was a game the Canadiens desperately needed, allowing them to open a six-point lead over the Flames for the final playoff spot in the North Division. Montreal also holds three games in hand.
“There were times in the game we could have cracked and went away from our game plan,” captain Shea Weber said. “We just stuck with it and found a way to win.”