With Injuries Mounting, An Unlikely Source Steps Up And Scores A Hat Trick For The Minnesota Wild

It was the empty seats that stuck out the most to Marcus Foligno while boarding the plane last weekend on the Minnesota Wild's three-game road trip.

Normally, empty seats means more elbow room. But in this case all it meant was there would be fewer star players on hand for games against Buffalo, Toronto and Montreal.

"When you go on this trip and you go on a plane and you see five seats missing, you realize that it's Bolds, JoJo, Ericsson Ek, Jimmy and Bogo," he said of injured forwards Matthew Boldy, Marcus Johansson, Joel Eriksson-EK and defensemen Jonas Brodin and Zach Bogosian.

"You just look at yourself in the mirror and you got to step up for your team."

In a 6-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday night, Foligno stepped up by scoring his first career hat trick. It was a somewhat unlikely offensive outburst for a veteran winger who had gone the first 30 games of the season without a goal — but who now has five in his past four games after also scoring a goal on Saturday in a 5-4 OT loss to Buffalo. 

"I’m more in shock that I got a hat trick, let alone one goal," said Foligno, while wearing the Wild's Indiana Jones-inspired player-of-the-game hat, as well as an ear-to-ear grin. "It’s not about how you start. It’s how you’re finishing."

For the Wild, who are on a two-game winning streak, the same can be said of how they're viewing the second-half of the season. 

With the win, Minnesota moved two points ahead of Dallas for second place in the top-heavy Central Division. Obviously, the Wild would like to continue to climb the standings. But with Colorado 11 points ahead and showing no signs of slowing down, home-ice advantage could be a decent consolation prize if Minnesota has to play Dallas in the first round.

"I think that’s a big thing," Foligno said of what looks like an inevitable first-round match-up. "Obviously, we want to catch Colorado but that’s a beast of a team too. We want to get home-ice advantage. Our job is to pass Dallas for sure."

If the Wild are going to stay ahead of the Stars, then they will need more nights like this out of Foligno.

Known more for recording Gordie Howe hat tricks than the usual kind — "I think those are way more important," he joked — Foligno did score 14 goals last season. But for whatever reason, the 34-year-old has had difficulty finding his offensive touch this year.

"Listen, it wasn’t a great start," he said. "Individually, you shake your head some nights and say what’s going on?"

Despite the lack of scoring, Foligno's game hasn't really wavered. He is always going to be a player who plays with his heart on his sleeve, whose impact is measured in hits — not points. Still, to have a game like he had against the Leafs not only put a smile on his face, but also on the faces of every other Minnesota player and coach.

"I’m really happy for him," said coach John Hynes. "I think you go through a stretch like he went through and it’s tough. It wears on you, but I think the thing I respect most when he went through that process was he was still a leader, he was still playing hard, he was vocal and he was being himself even though he wasn’t getting on the scoresheet.

That's what made Monday night's hat trick so important. It was the product of a lot of hard work and perseverance — and patience.

For one, it was his first three-goal game since playing for the OHL's Sudbury Wolves. Even better, it came in Toronto, where his father Mike (a former NHL who spent four seasons playing for the Maple Leafs) and several other family members and friends were on hand to witness the event.

"It’s pretty special," he said. "Toronto has been a tough building for me to score in. It’s been crazy to get it here. My dad was actually thinking about going home last night from Buffalo. He and my aunt's flight was delayed and they got to stay an extra night. It’s pretty sweet."

Foligno scored his first two goals of the game off tip-ins, both on point shots from defenseman Brock Faber. "That first tip was lethal by him," said Faber. "That’s a big-league tip. It’s impossible to save."

With the Leafs' goalie pulled, Vladimir Tarasenko, who also had a pair of goals, could have scored a hat trick of his own. Instead, he faked a shot and slid a pass over to Foligno, who skated in alone and put a backhand into the empty net. "He’s an awesome person," said Tarasenko.

"He invited me over for dinner when I came by myself my first couple of weeks in Minnesota," Tarasenko said of Foligno. "I got a chance to know him, his wife and his kids. He’s a very nice person."

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.