Toffoli makes an impact, downplays Sheppard’s hit

Darryl Sutter was complimentary of the performance of rookies Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli in Game 4, stating with conviction in the post-game press conference that “I thought they both played a hell of a game tonight.”

Toffoli scored a late second period insurance goal that was a just reward for work along the boards and in 50-50 battles, of which he won the greater percentage.

“I think you want to get good body position,” Toffoli said of the fight for loose pucks. “I think that’s the first you want to do and if you can’t do that, then you have to find a way to get your stick on the puck and maybe try to tie up his stick too. There are lots of things that you can do, but you have to find a way and you have to be strong.”

“I think it’s something for me that I kind of got away from, not even saying the first three games, but the last little stretch. I think it was good to get that and get that goal and to win that game. Obviously we needed to win. I think we had a really good game. Now we have to move forward and think about tomorrow and the effort that we need to put in to win in their rink.”

It was a game in which a simmer of distaste nearly reached a boiling point, and James Sheppard’s open-ice hit on Toffoli to Jonathan Quick’s left in the third period intensified the hostilities.

“I mean, I put the puck in Quickie’s glove, basically, and he came in. I mean, I can’t complain. It’s playoff hockey. It’s tough – you look at the way that it ended. There’s no love between us, so we’re not going to complain. We’re just going to play hockey.”

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