Oy Vey! Toffoli Scores Twice, Leads Kings Past Canucks

Nov 10, 2013

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Fair warning, this will be a pun-filled post as Kings prospect Linden Vey earned his first NHL point in only his second NHL game.

Recap

This will be brief as there a bunch of other, better recaps out there. You can check out HailRover’s recap at Jewels from the Crown here, LA Kings Insider intern James Nicholson has the highlights here and as this was a Hockey Night in Canada featured game, the CBC has a nice recap here. LA Kings Insider also The View from Vancouver that has recaps from various Vancouver publications.

The first period was a fairly typical tight contest between these two very good western conference (and now division) rivals. Both teams spent extended amounts of time in both ends of the ice with Luongo and Quick putting on a goalie clinic and stopping everything that went their way in the first 10 minutes. With just under 8 minutes left to go, Canucks’ defenseman Dan Hamhuis was standing at the Kings’ blue line and was attempting to keep the puck in the zone when he accidentally stepped on the puck and went down. Rookie Linden Vey took full advantage to start the breakout. With speed, he carried the puck into the offensive zone, slid the puck between former LA King Brad Richardson’s legs and passed the puck to Jordan Nolan, who wasted no time in burying the puck with Daniel Carcillo acting as a screen. This was the beginning of a great Vey for the Kings.

But Veyt just a minute! (I told ya it’d get punny.) Not to be outdone, fellow Manchester linemate and rookie, Tyler Toffoli decided to get in on the scoring action with his first goal of the season and second point in three games since his call up. With less than a minute to go and both teams skating 4-on-4, Mike Richards, Drew Doughty and Toffoli started a 3-on-2 rush. Richards got the puck to Doughty who passed it to Toffoli who made no mistake putting it on net. The puck appeared to deflect off Toffoli’s skate but was deemed a good goal as it was not a distinct kicking motion.

Los Angeles decided to make things interesting by giving the Canucks a power play to start the beginning of the second period (Doughty, holding). It appeared that the Canucks had scored on the power play but turns out, it was just Alex Burrows kicking the puck in. No goal. Just over midway through the period, the Canucks finally got on the board with a slapshot from Hamhuis in the high slot. Quick was well screened on the play and it appeared that everyone had simply lost sight of the puck.

But the Kings wouldn’t go quietly into the night accepting a 2-1 game. Just under three minutes later, the Kings would score twice more and Luongo got the hook. However, Eddie Lack didn’t stand a chance on a Tyler Toffoli breakaway. He and Mike Richards had a two-on-one and he held onto the puck for what seemed like forever. A bit of give and go and an easy goal for Toffoli who put it into the wide open net. Trevor Lewis nearly added to the score on a bad turnover with a breakaway but unfortunately, couldn’t convert. Poor Lewis is so snake bitten, it seems unlikely he’d even be able to score on an empty net.

Neither team was able to score on the Power Vey and no more scoring was to be had in the third period.

Analysis

So did the Kings dominate the game as much as the score would suggest or did the Canucks play poorly?

According to the Fenwick chart from ExtraSkater.com, the game was a lot closer than perhaps the score indicated. Both teams combined for 58 shots on goal (Vancouver 26, Los Angeles 32) and of the 57 faceoffs, Vancouver won 27 while Los Angeles won 28.

Looking at the Shot Attempts chart from Extra Skater, it’s clear that both teams were pretty good with the puck possession.

Shot attempts (corsi events)

Per.	Time	Team for	Event	Type	Distance	Shooter	Situation
1	0:13	VAN	Shot	Wrist	44 ft.	Sedin	EV 5v5
1	0:35	L.A	Miss	Slap	60 ft.	Voynov	EV 5v5
1	0:47	L.A	Block	Slap		Muzzin (blocked by Tanev)	EV 5v5
1	0:50	L.A	Shot	Wrist	32 ft.	Williams	EV 5v5
1	1:33	L.A	Shot	Back	9 ft.	Richards	EV 5v5
1	1:38	L.A	Block	Slap		Toffoli (blocked by Garrison)	EV 5v5
1	1:41	L.A	Shot	Slap	51 ft.	Martinez	EV 5v5
1	3:57	VAN	Miss	Slap	65 ft.	Edler	EV 5v5
1	4:20	L.A	Shot	Back	31 ft.	Williams	EV 5v5
1	4:24	L.A	Block	Slap		Regehr (blocked by Burrows)	EV 5v5
1	4:48	VAN	Block	Wrist		Higgins (blocked by Regehr)	EV 5v5
1	4:50	VAN	Shot	Wrist	12 ft.	Santorelli	EV 5v5
1	5:01	VAN	Shot	Snap	27 ft.	Burrows	EV 5v5
1	5:03	VAN	Shot	Wrist	10 ft.	Higgins	EV 5v5
1	5:37	VAN	Shot	Tip	18 ft.	Higgins	EV 5v5
1	5:57	VAN	Shot	Wrist	9 ft.	Sedin	EV 5v5
1	6:22	VAN	Miss	Wrist	25 ft.	Sedin	EV 5v5
1	6:27	VAN	Shot	Wrist	14 ft.	Sedin	EV 5v5
1	6:28	VAN	Shot	Back	20 ft.	Kesler	EV 5v5
1	6:44	VAN	Miss	Wrist	63 ft.	Bieksa	EV 5v5
1	8:08	L.A	Shot	Slap	45 ft.	Nolan	EV 5v5
1	9:16	VAN	Shot	Slap	79 ft.	Bieksa	EV 5v5
1	9:31	L.A	Block	Wrist		Frattin (blocked by Hamhuis)	EV 5v5
1	9:34	L.A	Shot	Slap	25 ft.	Frattin	EV 5v5
1	9:41	L.A	Shot	Slap	54 ft.	Regehr	EV 5v5
1	9:59	VAN	Block	Slap		Sedin (blocked by Mitchell)	EV 5v5
1	10:08	L.A	Miss	Back	11 ft.	Kopitar	EV 5v5
1	10:35	L.A	Block	Slap		Williams (blocked by Garrison)	EV 5v5
1	11:15	VAN	Shot	Wrist	13 ft.	Higgins	EV 5v5
1	11:35	L.A	Shot	Slap	35 ft.	Richards	EV 5v5
1	11:48	L.A	Miss	Wrist	42 ft.	Toffoli	EV 5v5
1	12:23	L.A	Goal	Wrist	23 ft.	Nolan (assisted by Vey, Martinez)	EV 5v5
1	12:54	VAN	Miss	Back	10 ft.	Sedin	EV 5v5
1	13:38	VAN	Miss	Slap	46 ft.	Tanev	EV 5v5
1	13:54	VAN	Miss	Snap	37 ft.	Burrows	EV 5v5
1	14:11	L.A	Miss	Slap	39 ft.	Doughty	EV 5v5
1	14:15	L.A	Shot	Slap	48 ft.	Clifford	EV 5v5
1	14:23	L.A	Block	Wrist		Toffoli (blocked by Santorelli)	EV 5v5
1	15:56	L.A	Miss	Wrist	36 ft.	Vey	EV 5v5
1	18:13	VAN	Shot	Slap	39 ft.	Sedin	PP 5v4
1	18:34	VAN	Shot	Wrist	43 ft.	Kesler	PP 5v4
1	19:09	L.A	Goal	Tip	8 ft.	Toffoli (assisted by Doughty, Richards)	EV 4v4
1	19:33	VAN	Block	Wrist		Kesler (blocked by Mitchell)	EV 4v4
1	19:49	VAN	Shot	Slap	38 ft.	Edler	EV 4v4
2	0:15	VAN	Shot	Wrist	39 ft.	Higgins	EV 4v4
2	1:08	VAN	Shot	Wrist	10 ft.	Burrows	PP 5v4
2	2:30	VAN	Shot	Snap	47 ft.	Higgins	EV 5v5
2	3:23	L.A	Miss	Wrist	45 ft.	Doughty	EV 5v5
2	3:35	L.A	Block	Wrist		Doughty (blocked by Stanton)	EV 5v5
2	5:09	L.A	Shot	Wrist	39 ft.	Doughty	EV 5v5
2	5:25	L.A	Miss	Wrist	61 ft.	Doughty	EV 5v5
2	5:40	L.A	Shot	Snap	52 ft.	Martinez	EV 5v5
2	6:19	L.A	Miss	Slap	50 ft.	Toffoli	EV 5v5
2	6:33	L.A	Shot	Back	36 ft.	King	EV 5v5
2	6:52	L.A	Shot	Snap	19 ft.	Williams	EV 5v5
2	7:47	VAN	Block	Back		Dalpe (blocked by Mitchell)	EV 5v5
2	7:56	VAN	Shot	Wrist	65 ft.	Hamhuis	EV 5v5
2	8:18	VAN	Miss	Tip	14 ft.	Archibald	EV 5v5
2	8:50	VAN	Shot	Wrist	24 ft.	Bieksa	EV 5v5
2	8:52	VAN	Goal	Slap	45 ft.	Hamhuis (assisted by Bieksa, Kesler)	EV 5v5
2	9:19	VAN	Shot	Wrist	87 ft.	Edler	EV 5v5
2	9:27	VAN	Block	Wrist		Burrows (blocked by Richards)	EV 5v5
2	10:00	L.A	Goal	Wrist	11 ft.	Richards (assisted by King, Toffoli)	EV 5v5
2	10:34	L.A	Shot	Slap	66 ft.	Voynov	EV 5v5
2	10:43	L.A	Block	Wrist		Lewis (blocked by Stanton)	EV 5v5
2	11:34	L.A	Block	Wrist		Voynov (blocked by Kesler)	EV 5v5
2	11:46	L.A	Goal	Wrist	10 ft.	Williams (assisted by Kopitar, Voynov)	EV 5v5
2	12:33	L.A	Goal	Wrist	12 ft.	Toffoli (assisted by Richards, King)	EV 5v5
2	12:52	VAN	Miss	Snap	41 ft.	Archibald	EV 5v5
2	14:48	VAN	Shot	Wrist	41 ft.	Burrows	EV 5v5
2	17:27	VAN	Shot	Slap	43 ft.	Welsh	EV 5v5
2	17:47	VAN	Miss	Wrist	26 ft.	Welsh	EV 5v5
2	18:11	L.A	Shot	Wrist	59 ft.	Mitchell	EV 5v5
2	18:34	VAN	Block	Wrist		Edler (blocked by Martinez)	EV 5v5
2	19:04	L.A	Shot	Wrist	14 ft.	Lewis	EV 5v5
2	19:20	L.A	Block	Slap		Voynov (blocked by Archibald)	EV 5v5
3	0:14	VAN	Shot	Wrist	37 ft.	Higgins	EV 5v5
3	2:12	L.A	Shot	Slap	12 ft.	Martinez	PP 5v4
3	2:39	L.A	Shot	Slap	59 ft.	Voynov	PP 5v4
3	2:56	VAN	Miss	Tip	11 ft.	Burrows	EV 5v5
3	4:39	VAN	Block	Wrist		Edler (blocked by Martinez)	EV 5v5
3	5:15	L.A	Block	Wrist		Muzzin (blocked by Burrows)	PP 5v4
3	5:20	L.A	Shot	Wrist	40 ft.	Toffoli	PP 5v4
3	6:33	L.A	Miss	Slap	50 ft.	Voynov	PP 5v4
3	6:47	L.A	Shot	Tip	11 ft.	Brown	PP 5v4
3	7:38	L.A	Block	Wrist		Lewis (blocked by Hamhuis)	EV 5v5
3	8:33	L.A	Shot	Slap	38 ft.	Brown	EV 5v5
3	9:18	VAN	Miss	Wrist	35 ft.	Richardson	EV 5v5
3	9:57	L.A	Block	Wrist		Voynov (blocked by Tanev)	EV 5v5
3	10:19	L.A	Shot	Wrist	37 ft.	Nolan	EV 5v5
3	10:48	L.A	Shot	Wrist	18 ft.	Richards	EV 5v5
3	10:59	L.A	Miss	Slap	55 ft.	Doughty	EV 5v5
3	11:42	VAN	Shot	Wrist	18 ft.	Welsh	EV 5v5
3	11:50	VAN	Miss	Wrist	38 ft.	Dalpe	EV 5v5
3	12:13	VAN	Shot	Slap	57 ft.	Tanev	EV 5v5
3	12:45	VAN	Shot	Slap	129 ft.	Edler	SH 4v5
3	13:13	L.A	Block	Slap		Muzzin (blocked by Burrows)	PP 5v4
3	13:42	L.A	Miss	Slap	49 ft.	Doughty	PP 5v4
3	14:20	L.A	Shot	Slap	31 ft.	Brown	PP 5v4
3	15:10	L.A	Shot	Slap	58 ft.	Mitchell	EV 5v5
3	15:19	L.A	Block	Wrist		Mitchell (blocked by Archibald)	EV 5v5
3	16:41	VAN	Block	Back		Burrows (blocked by Kopitar)	EV 5v5
3	17:02	L.A	Shot	Snap	17 ft.	Kopitar	EV 5v5
3	17:13	L.A	Miss	Slap	58 ft.	Martinez	EV 5v5
3	17:43	VAN	Block	Wrist		Edler (blocked by Frattin)	EV 5v5
3	17:50	VAN	Miss	Snap	44 ft.	Archibald	EV 5v5
3	19:27	L.A	Shot	Wrist	53 ft.	Toffoli	EV 5v5
3	19:50	VAN	Miss	Slap	62 ft.	Stanton	EV 5v5

So the Kings clearly didn’t dominate the game but they simply played the right Vey by capitalizing on the mistakes the Canucks made, who were just not having a Veyry good Vey. It was a hard-fought battle between two teams in one of the toughest divisions in the NHL. This time, the Kings came out on top.

Next up for the Kings, a suddenly injury riddled squad will take a 4 game road swing out East before returning home to host the Tampa Bay Lightning on the 19th and hand them their first loss to a Western team. It’s worth noting that Jarret Stoll, who had been out for the past week with an upper body injury (thankfully not a concussion) participated in full practice today and is eligible to travel with the team. Meanwhile, Jeff Carter remains on IR and Matt Greene is out with some sort of “Mystery Valley” injury. Kyle Clifford, who “got his bell rung” in the first period of Saturday’s Canucks game did not take part in practice and will likely have to go through strict League concussion protocols before being allowed to return to the ice. Should call ups be necessary, the Kings will likely look to LW Tanner Pearson on offense and potentially one of three possible defensemen Andrew Campbell, Andrew Bodnarchuk or Jeff Schultz for some backup on the blueline.

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