Tyler Toffoli’s first attempt was only the beginning. Checked by Colton Parayko near the post, Toffoli stayed with the rebound and scored 8:48 into the second period, bringing the San Jose Sharks level in what became a 3-2 overtime victory over the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.
That second effort mattered because San Jose needed its attack to do more than wait for one player to manufacture something. The Sharks were playing their second consecutive game without Macklin Celebrini, who is dealing with a lower-body injury and remains day to day. They had also been shut out 5-0 by Dallas on Monday.
In St. Louis, the response came through several hands: Toffoli finished one chance, Michael Misa helped create it, Collin Graf supplied another equalizer, and Darnell Nurse ended the night.
Toffoli was the central figure without becoming the entire offense. His goal came at even strength, just after San Jose’s power play expired, and it required him to win the puck again after the initial attempt. Misa and Jacob Trouba received assists on the play.
There was nothing elaborate about the finish, which is precisely why it carried some weight: the Sharks converted an imperfect chance because Toffoli continued the sequence at the net instead of treating the first shot as the end of it.
His second point showed a different form of contribution. At 6:05 of the third period, Sam Dickinson sent the puck toward the middle, and the puck glanced off Adam Jiricek. Graf reacted quickly in the slot and snapped a shot into the upper-left corner, with Toffoli earning the assist.
One goal came from Toffoli’s own rebound; the next came from him supporting a play that another forward completed. That is a more useful shape for San Jose than simply asking Toffoli to repeat the same act.
Misa’s assist belongs in that same supporting-production conversation. Misa was credited on Toffoli’s goal, while Graf finished the later ricochet created by Dickinson’s involvement. Those details can be easy to lose when Celebrini is absent, especially because the temptation is to search for a single replacement for the missing star.
Thursday offered something less dramatic and more practical: the offense worked when several players handled one piece of the sequence.
It was hardly a clean night. Dillon Dube scored shorthanded 1:39 into the third period, retaining possession during a 2-on-1 and beating Nedeljkovic with a shot into the upper-right corner. San Jose had the man advantage, yet the Blues moved ahead 2-1.