Toffoli fine after Nesterov hit to head

Tyler Toffoli was among the players featured in last night’s Road to the NHL Stadium Series episode when he was shown walking his puppy along the beach on a quiet afternoon. The forward has a fondness for dogs – he said his family had an Old English Sheepdog when he was younger – as well as, you know, finding the back of the net. The 22-year-old leads the Kings with 18 goals on the season.

He didn’t score in Monday’s win over Tampa Bay, though his name did come up in the third period when he absorbed a shot to the head by Lightning rookie Nikita Nesterov.

Toffoli, a bit stung by the hit, slowly and deliberately returned to the bench but returned to play out his remaining shifts of the game.

“I was a little shook up at the time, but got to the bench and just kind of took a deep breath and felt good, good enough to play.”

Nesterov was whistled for roughing on the play, though he faced no supplemental discipline.

“I haven’t seen it, but I thought it was an elbow,” Toffoli said. “I thought it wasn’t the best hit, but if you play hockey, that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

It was among the more painful hits he’s weathered during a game in his professional career.

“Luckily, knock on wood, I’ve been pretty good. I’ve been banged up a couple times, but you just have to play through it and do whatever it takes to help the team win.”

That he has done. Through the club’s five-game winning streak, Toffoli has five goals and seven points while earning second star of the week honors last week. He’ll skate to the right of Dwight King and Jeff Carter tonight at Colorado.