Tyler Toffoli notches sixth career NHL hat trick

New Jersey Devils (Wikimedia Commons)

New Jersey Devils centre Tyler Toffoli of Scraborough, Ontario notched his sixth career National Hockey League hat trick on Monday. He accomplished the feat in a 6-5 New Jersey Devils overtime win over the Vegas Golden Knights at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Toffoli put the Devils up 3-1 on a goal from defensemen Kevin Bahl of New Westminster, British Columbia and Simon Nemec. The goal came at 1:37 of the second period. Toffoli then pulled the Devils to within one goal (5-4 Vegas) with 16 seconds left in the third period from Dawson Mercer of Carbonear, Newfoundland. Then in overtime, Toffoli scored the game-winning goal from Luke Hughes at 2:35 of the extra period.

Toffoli was one of two Devils with a multi-goal game. Curtis Lazar of Salmon Arm, British Columbia scored twice. Toffoli and Lazar were two of three Devils with a multi-point game. The other was Nathan Bastian of Kitchener, Ontario, who had two assists.

This was Toffoli’s second hat trick with the Devils. The other came on October 24 in a 5-2 Devils win over the Montreal Canadiens. Toffoli has also had three hat tricks with the Los Angeles Kings and one with the Montreal Canadiens.

In 2023-24, Toffoli has 20 goals and 13 assists for 33 points in 45 games. He is a -7 with 12 penalty minutes, nine power-play points, two game-winning goals, 129 shots on goal, 15 faceoff wins, six blocked shots, 27 hits, 14 takeaways and 21 giveaways. The other game-winning goal came in a 3-2 Devils win over the Detroit Red Wings on December 23.

With the win, the Devils improved to a record of 24 wins, 18 regulation losses, and three losses in extra time for 51 points. They are two points back of the Tampa Bay Lightning for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

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