WINNIPEG — One game after returning from injury, the Wild's Marcus Foligno could be sidelined for a different reason.
Wild's Marcus Foligno faces hearing after kneeing Jets' Adam Lowry
The infraction occurred during a third period fight and could draw a suspension for the Minnesota winger.
February 10, 2022 at 6:33AM
Foligno will have a hearing after kneeing the Jets' Adam Lowry during a 2-0 loss for the Wild on Tuesday at Canada Life Centre.
The NHL Department of Safety will have the hearing Thursday.
The incident happened at 11 minutes, 6 seconds of the third period during a fight between Foligno and Lowry, who was lying down on the ice with Foligno hunched over him as the officials tried to separate the two.
Aside from receiving a five-minute fighting major, Foligno was also penalized two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct.
"I saw them complaining about maybe I got my leg in there or something, but that was just me kind of ticked off and to try and get at him; there's no intent to not throw with your fist or use another body part in there," Foligno said after the game, his first since sitting out two because of a hip injury. "I'm sure they'll be things said and complaints but for me, it was just heat of the battle and just a little ticked off.
"You shouldn't resist once the linesmen get in there just for the respect factor, but it is what it is. You've been in enough fights. I've held off. I've had it done to me. It just is what it is."
If suspended, it'll be the first time in Foligno's 11-season NHL career.
The Wild's next game is Saturday vs. Carolina at Xcel Energy Center, and the team has a rematch with the Jets next Wednesday back in Winnipeg.
"That's something I don't really care for," Lowry said of getting kneed. "But it's the heat of the moment sometimes. Your emotions get the best of you. I'll just leave it at that. He's a pretty honest player. I think he'd probably like to take that back if you could, but things happen."
Lowry's father and Winnipeg interim coach Dave Lowry also described the situation as "heat of the moment" and said Foligno might have tripped.
"It's probably something that if you talk to him after, it's probably something that he wished didn't happen," Dave Lowry said.
This was the second fight of the game between Foligno and Lowry.
In the first period, the two tussled after Foligno was checked by the Jets' Brenden Dillon, who fought Foligno's linemate Jordan Greenway for two simultaneous scuffles.
Dillon was not penalized for the hit on Foligno, and Wild coach Dean Evason said he didn't receive clarity on why not.
"We lost our composure but rightfully so," Evason said. "If you watch the hit, [Foligno] releases the puck, he takes three strides and then gets blindsided. If you're a hockey player, you're not expecting to get hammered from the backside like that. That's the hit that we don't want in the game: blind, has no idea it's coming, extremely late. That's not a hockey hit."
At 6-3 and 226 pounds, Foligno is one of the Wild's most physical forwards but also a key producer.
He ranks third in goals with a career-high 17, and his 27 points through 40 games are also a new personal best for the 30-year-old winger.
"If Marcus Foligno isn't as big and strong as he is, that player's probably hurt really bad," Evason said. "We didn't like it all obviously. We lost our composure a little bit — a little bit — but we caught it. But Moose was rightfully so frustrated, and obviously that's why that second altercation probably happened at the end."
The NHL’s coaching carousel revealed itself again, a fight reminded us what has changed, and of course there was unpredictable matter involving a goalie.
