Last night when the Toronto Maple Leafs beat an undermanned Edmonton Oilers’ team by a score of 4-2, something interesting happened. T.J. Brodie scored. That in itself is interesting, but even more interesting is that he now has scored goals in three straight games.
Given his relatively distant engagement with the scoresheet this season, it begs the simple question: What’s up with Brodie?
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Wednesday’s Brodie Exploits Against the Oilers
As noted, Brodie has scored in three straight games. Interestingly enough, he’s also added three assists during his last four games. That’s six points during that four-game point streak. The usually quiet defenseman scored on what wasn’t the most classic goal. In fact, it was a double deflection that came late in the first period of Wednesday’s game to tie the score 2-2. See below.
So now the 31-year-old Brodie has 11 points in the season to go along with his plus-13 rating in 32 games. Doing the math, during his last four games, he’s scored six points. During the 28 games before this sudden splurge, Brodie scored only five points. He’s more than doubled his point total in four games.
Saturday’s Breakout Game Against the Ottawa Senators
On New Year’s Day, Brodie registered three points against the Ottawa Senators when he scored a goal and added two short-handed assists in the team’s 6-0 win. Brodie was almost invisible on the scoresheet during most of the season, but he’s capable of producing offense. The 31-year-old defenseman is much better known as a defensive-first player and who would expect him to have even a multiple-point game.
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Does Brodie Have a Thing for Canadian-Based Teams?
Brodie scored his first goal of the season on December 14, also in a 5-1 win over the Oilers in Edmonton. At that point in time, it was one of Brodie’s best games of the season (at least offensively). But, given the fact that Brodie doesn’t take many shots during a game, he really isn’t counted on to create offense. His job is to safely move the puck up ice out of the defensive zone, which he does systematically and successfully.
Hard Luck for Brodie on the Scoresheet
On November 24, Brodie at first was credited with two assists in a 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. In that game, he assisted on goals (sort of) by John Tavares and Austin Matthews. During that game, Brodie would have doubled his point output for the season to four assists in 21 games. However, one of those assists was taken away when there was a scoring change.
What’s on the Scoresheet Horizon for Brodie?
It’s likely that Brodie’s close connection with the scoresheet will be short-lived. That said, it doesn’t make his value to the team any less significant. He’s the quietest defenseman I’ve ever seen play. He’s so competent that he draws hardly any attention to his own game.
He just does his job under the radar. Still, I have no illusions that the organization isn’t aware of how lucky it is that he’s with the team. Brodie makes everyone around him better.
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