Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

The Buzzer: Armia, Toffoli keep high-octane offense going for Habs

The Buzzer: Armia, Toffoli keep high-octane offense going for Habs

VANCOUVER, BC - JANUARY 20: Tyler Toffoli #73 of the Montreal Canadiens celebrates with teammates Jeff Petry #26 and Joel Armia #40 after scoring his third goal of the game against the Vancouver Canucks during NHL hockey action at Rogers Arena on January 20, 2021 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Three Stars

1. Joel Armia

Unfortunately, Joel Armia saw his outstanding night cut short by an awful Tyler Myers hit. (Scroll for more on that.)

But before that, Armia ranked as one of the driving forces in a really impressive Canadiens victory over the Canucks. Armia scored two goals and two assists, producing in a big way after being limited to an assist through his first four games of the season.

While Armia’s offensive numbers have been pretty steady during the past three or four seasons, he really blossomed in 2019-20, his second with the Habs. Armia enjoyed some nice possession numbers, and also set what’s easily a career-high with a 17:14 TOI average.

Here’s hoping Armia is healthy enough to build off of this explosive game. If not, hopefully it’s not for too long.

2. Tyler Toffoli

Another night, another strong performance from Toffoli against his former team, the Canucks. Another night in the top three stars for The Buzzer.

On Wednesday, Toffoli managed a hat trick. He came agonizingly close to doing so again on Thursday, but fell short. The Habs will take what he offered instead.

Toffoli scored two goals and one assist, generating a +4 rating and firing six shots on goal. Much like Wednesday, you could absolutely argue that Toffoli was the most impressive player in a high-scoring Canadiens - Canucks game. This time, Toffoli’s team won.

From the losing side, Bo Horvat scored two goals. He’ll have to settle for a mere mention in the Buzzer this time around.

3. Mathew Barzal

Heading into the season, you might wonder if Barzal would bring in drama somewhere comparable to fellow late-signing stars Pierre-Luc Dubois and Patrik Laine. Maybe boil it down to Lou Lamoriello, but there really hasn’t been much drama since Barzal signed a team-friendly deal.

(Dubois? Just a touch of drama right now.)

After scoring a goal in his first game of the season, Barzal went without a point or a shot on goal for two Islanders games. He woke up in a big way on Thursday, collecting one goal, two assists, five SOG, and a +1 rating.

Barzal was voted Islanders players most likely to be featured in The Buzzer in the Islanders’ imaginary yearbook.

Lowlight of the night

Tyler Myers delivered an absolutely ugly hit on Armia:

NHL highlights from Thursday

It’s been a bumpy start to the season for the Bruins, but they won a shootout (in more ways than one) against the Flyers, and Tuukka Rask produced this beauty of a save:

NHL scores from Thursday

Bruins 5, Flyers 4 (SO)
Jets 4, Senators 1
Lightning 3, Blue Jackets 2 (OT)
Islanders 4, Devils 1
Kings 4, Avalanche 2
Canadiens 7, Canucks 3

James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.