SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks forward Tyler Toffoli believes he should have a few more goals than he does right now with 11 games left in the regular season.
But it’s tough to imagine the Sharks feeling like he’s had a disappointing year, considering what he’s meant to the team on and off the ice.
The 32-year-old Toffoli scored his 26th and 27th goals of the season on Thursday. But the Sharks, after allowing a game-tying goal to William Nylander with 13.2 seconds left in regulation time, saw Will Smith and Macklin Celebrini score in the shootout to earn a wild, 6-5 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs before an announced crowd of 15,514 at SAP Center.
Toffoli’s second goal gave the Sharks a 5-3 lead at the 3:02 mark of the third period, a lead San Jose did a fine job protecting until the final minute of regulation time. Then the Sharks allowed goals to John Tavares and Nylander, as the Leafs scored twice after pulling goalie Joseph Woll for the extra attacker.
Still, Toffoli and the Sharks were not about to fret about the lost lead as they notched an impressive win and completed the season sweep of the playoff-bound Leafs.
“They’re obviously a really good team, and I thought we played a really good game,” Toffoli said of the Leafs. “We found a way. We stuck with it, and I’m happy with this group.”
Center Alexander Wennberg scored his 100th career goal, Collin Graf added a shorthanded marker, and William Eklund scored his 17th of the season in a weird second-period sequence.
Goalie Alexandar Georgiev made 30 saves for the Sharks, who improved to 3-4-0 on their season-long eight-game homestand that ends Saturday against the New York Rangers.
Toffoli scored and Wennberg had two assists in the Sharks’ 3-2 shootout win over the Leafs at Scotiabank Arena on March 3. But since that game, Toffoli had only had two empty net goals, one against the Buffalo Sabres on March 4 and on March 13 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
In that eight-game stretch of not scoring on a manned net, Toffoli had 30 shots, lowering his shooting percentage on the season to 12.7, slightly lower than the 14.4% he had last year in a combined 79 games with the New Jersey Devils and Winnipeg Jets.
Still, Toffoli, now in his 13th NHL campaign, has 94 goals since the start of the 2022-23 season. Only 29 players across the NHL have scored more goals in that same time.
Toffoli has never had three straight 30-goal seasons in his career, but he’s on the verge of doing it now with the Sharks carrying a 5-6-0 record this month into Saturday.
“There’s been some ups and downs,” Toffoli said. “I wasn’t necessarily stressed, but I didn’t score a goal with a goalie in the net for a bunch of games there, so obviously that was nice. But personally, yeah, 30 goals is obviously really cool. I could have had a little bit more, had a couple of little slumps there early in the season as well. But just trying to play the best I can, and lead by example.
“I think everybody in the locker room right now is really buying in.”
Toffoli now has 47 points on the season, and it seems safe to say he’ll reach 50 points for the fourth time in his NHL career. Beyond the production, though, has been his leadership, particularly regarding his impact on rookies Celebrini and Smith.
That’s a big reason the Sharks signed him to a four-year, $24 million contract on the first day of free agency last year.
“You can talk about all of his goals and the way he’s playing the game, but he’s so smart out there,” Wennberg said. “He’s making a difference, and for us to have him right now, he’s a big reason why we’re going to be a really good team in the future. You can see that everyone is following him.”
Wennberg’s goal came at the 1:39 mark of the second period, as he scooped up a loose puck in the Sharks’ zone, carried it into the Leafs’ end on a 2-on-1 with Toffoli, and shot it past goalie Joseph Woll for a 3-1 San Jose lead.
After San Ramon native Auston Matthews scored a power-play goal at the 4:46 mark of the second period to get the Leafs back within one, Eklund restored the Sharks’ two-goal lead.
Eklund followed Simon Benoit on a forecheck near the Leafs’ net when Woll tried to pass the puck up the ice. Instead, the puck went off Eklund’s skate, crossing the goal line at the 13:18 mark.
Thursday’s game marked the NHL debut of forward Cam Lund, who signed his entry-level contract with the Sharks last Friday, a day after Northeastern’s season ended with a loss to Maine in the Hockey East tournament semifinals.
Lund was expecting about 15 friends and family members to attend the game as he became the fifth Sharks player this season to play his first NHL game. Others were Smith and Celebrini in the regular season opener on Oct.10, Ethan Cardwell on Oct. 19, and Luca Cagnoni on March 29.
Lund’s parents, Eric and Shannon, attended the Sharks’ morning skate on Thursday and saw him start the game against the Maple Leafs on a line with Ty Dellandrea and Patrick Giles.
“They’re just super proud of me, of where I’ve gone,” Lund said of his parents. “If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here. They’ve supported me my whole life, so I’m really grateful for that.”
Originally Published:
Source: Paradise Post
