The New Jersey Devils are preparing for the Stadium Series on Saturday night. Many of the team's stars have never played in an outdoor game. Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Luke Hughes, and Dawson Mercer are all too young to play in an outdoor game. There are exactly zero players on the Devils roster from their last Stadium Series game at Yankee Stadium in 2014 that are still in New Jersey. In fact, the only player on the Devils still active in the NHL is Adam Henrique.
However, there are players on this roster with outdoor experience. Erik Haula played in an outdoor game when he was with Minnesota. Brendan Smith has played while he was with the Rangers. Even Lindy Ruff has experience as a head coach, leading the Buffalo Sabres into the 2008 Winter Classic. However, none of them have the history in outdoor games that Tyler Toffoli has.
He's entering his third outdoor game, but he already has three goals under the stadium lights. They all came in the same game. While playing with the Kings, he scored three goals in February 2020 against the Vegas Golden Knights. It was the first hat trick in an outdoor game. On Saturday, he could break the record for goals outdoors.
Tyler Toffoli has left his mark on an outdoor game before and will look to do the same Saturday for the @NJDevils. #StadiumSeries #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/6V3ou9c418
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) February 17, 2024
If Toffoli scores one goal on Saturday, he will tie the record held by the Boston Bruins' David Pastrnak. Two goals will break the record for career outdoor game goals.
Toffoli is currently in a four-way tie for second with Auston Matthews, Eric Fehr, and Vladimir Tarasenko. New Flyers captain Sean Couturier has two goals in outdoor games, so if he has an insane game, then he can pass everyone.