Calgary Flames benefit from Tyler Toffoli’s knack for big goals

Darryl Sutter tried to move the goalposts, insisting that any measure of Tyler Toffoli’s best campaigns must also include his playoff snipes.

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Which is a tad ironic, since Toffoli has likely been wishing he could move the posts, too. If the net was just a bit bigger, his stat line would be all the more impressive.

Despite ranking among the league leaders in shots off the iron, the Calgary Flames’ right-winger has now notched 31 goals in 2022-23, equalling his top total from his decade as an NHL regular.

“It’s probably not a career-high — with playoff goals (counted) in another year,” said Sutter, his protest immediately followed by praise. “He’s a winner. You can’t teach it. Thankful to have him.”

Indeed, the 30-year-old Toffoli has been a consistent bright spot for this oftentimes frustrating bunch.

The first-line forward tucked twice in Saturday’s 5-3 win over the San Jose Sharks at the Saddledome, polishing off a spin-o-rama pass from centre Elias Lindholm in the opening stanza and then sealing the result with a late empty-netter.

Thanks to the victory, the Flames are once again within four points of the final wildcard berth in the Western Conference. They wouldn’t be that close without Toffoli, who leads this troupe in both tallies (31) and total points (67).

“He’s scored a lot of big goals for our team — tying goals, go-ahead goals, first goals, power-play goals, things like that,” Sutter said.

That comes as little surprise to those who go way back with this sharpshooting winger from Scarborough, Ont.

Earlier this winter, one of Tyler Toffoli’s minor-hockey skippers recalled that he was a smart and unselfish player who was never fussed about being overshadowed by a hotshot teammate, an eventual first-overall pick in the OHL Priority Draft.

“Tyler is just a humble, down-to-earth kid. I just can’t say enough about him. He makes everybody around him better,” said Dan Cameron, Toffoli’s coach for several seasons in the Toronto Jr. Canadians program. “And he would always score the big goals. You see it now in the NHL … Wherever he goes, all of a sudden, bang, he’s scoring the big goals.

“When you see him do that, you could have been standing back in 2008, right on the bench with me, and he could have been getting the winning goal like so many times he did for us.”

Or beside Sutter on the bench in Los Angeles, where an up-and-coming Toffoli cracked a veteran-laden roster and was a clutch contributor as the Kings raised a championship banner in 2014.

Or beside Dominique Ducharme on the bench in an empty Bell Centre in Montreal. Toffoli was a force during the pandemic-shortened season in 2021, helping propel the Habs on an improbable run to the Stanley Cup final. (He combined for 33 bubbled buries, so Sutter may consider this his most productive campaign to date.)

This part hasn’t changed, either …

“When I think of Tyler, the first thing that comes to my mind is just a constant smile,” Cameron said.

He’s had plenty to smile about in 2022-23, at least from an individual standpoint.

Proof that Toffoli isn’t thinking about padding his personal stats, he tried like heck Saturday to set up milestone man Mikael Backlund — in his 900 appearance in Calgary’s colours — for an empty-netter before finally firing the freebie himself for his 31st. That matches his count from 2015-16.

“I think it could be even better if you look at certain things, certain breaks, or whatever,” said Toffoli, no doubt referring to a dozen shots that have left his ears ringing — seven off the post and a league-high five that dented the crossbar. “But it’s that time of year where you have to step up, and that’s what I’ve been trying to do. Things have kind of been going my way but, at the same time, winning games is what is most important. We’re giving ourselves a chance here.”

With just eight games to go and long odds of claiming the tiebreaker, the Flames certainly can’t afford many more losses. Among the key ingredients for a furious push, they’ll need No. 73 to continue to stuff the scoresheet. He’s piled up 11 points over his past six outings.

Next up for Toffoli & Co. is Tuesday’s clash with the Kings at the Saddledome (7 p.m. MT, Sportsnet West/Sportsnet 960 The Fan). Don’t forget, the Flames were flattened 8-2 last week in L.A.

“You treat these games like playoff games because, at the end of the day, that’s what they are,” Toffoli stressed, setting up the final two-and-a-half weeks of the regular season. “I think it’s a really good opportunity for our group. It’s one of those things, if you look at teams that are successful a lot of the time, they’re fighting for their lives to get into the playoffs and they do well in the playoffs because they’re used to playing in those tight games. I think that’s a perspective we have to be looking at.”