I talked with Marcus Foligno after the optional skate on Tuesday morning before the Leafs game. He told me that he was heading to Chef's to carb up. Then, he was heading for home. 'I'm taking a nice nap. I'm playing hard hockey tonight", Foligno told me.
Fast forward to his first shift against the Leafs. Poor Carl Gunnarsson didn't get the memo that Foligno was planning on rattling the molars of the Maple Leafs.
thanks, mapleleafs.com
"I just wanted to come out with a faster effort than in previous games. Like I told you this morning, I just wanted to go home and get rest. Rest is a weapon, and I really wanted to take it to these guys. They kinda ticked us off last game and we didn't appreciate it very much. It was one of those games where they wanted to be the spoilers, but just the way we were down and we bounced back up just shows the character we have in this room", Foligno told me proudly.
After the game, Marcus told me:
"I saw his bucket fly off. I knew I hit him hard", he said.
In a surprising tone, he then asked: "what did he miss, a couple of shifts?"
No, you ended his night, I said.
That's the kind of life that Marcus has been living since he was recalled to the big club on March 10. He's got 14 points in 12 games and he's singlehandedly driving his team into the postseason.
Here's his first NHL scrap. Watch he he goes over and under with the upper cut, just like his old man!
thanks, mapleleafs.com
This is the Buffalo feed
Marcus Foligno is a one man army. Not just tonight, but in all 12 games since his recall on March 10. The Sudbury Wolves legend now has 14 points in 12 games played in Buffalo. Call a realtor, Marcus. You ain't a renter anymore!
Doesn't surprise me. I recall Foligno trucking four different players, behind the same net where he crushed Gunnarsson, during the 2011 World Junior Championships in Buffalo. Foligno-Johansen-Kassian played the same brand of Hell bent for leather hockey in the WJCs that the 82-63-21 line has playing since Lindy Ruff put them together on March 10 in Ottawa.
Foligno played a similar Hell raiser role when he played with Luke Adam and Corey Tropp in the Traverse City rookie tourney in Michigan back in August.
The kid is a fire starter. Its in his DNA. Its who he is. Its how he rolls.
Look at Foligno's sheer will and detrmination on the Leopold goal that made it 5-5. In the dying moments of regulation, Ennis lost the draw, Foligno recovered it and took it straight to the hole, where he was met by Jurassic Park Komisarek. The Leaf D lost his marbles and tackled Foligno, then proceeded to bang the kid's melon off the ice. Komisarek blew his coverage and thus allowed all of the Sabres on the ice to floood the dance floor looking for the loose puck. Leopold found it and staffed it home. That play wouldn't have happened if Foligno chose not to drive the blue ice, looking to create a play in the dirty area against tough D.
"He (Komisarek) was really mad at me, probably because we were jawing on the face off. That doesn't scare me", Marcus told me after the game. THAT's Mrcus Foligno. Fearless! Guts. Grit. Leader. Just like his old man.
Foligno's liney, Enzo, was in rare form in the 6-5 OT win as well.
thanks, sabres.com
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Ryan Miller nearly tore Derek Roy's head off when he tackled Roy at mid-ice after the centre had scored the OT GWG
thanks, sabres.com
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In case you've been living under a rock, here are the Sabres goals.
Ennis PPG made it 3-1 Leafs
Sulzer made it 3-2 Leafs
Roy made it 4-3
Sulzer's second of the night made it 5-4
Leopold scores what may be remembered as Buffalo biggest goal of the 11/12 season to make it 5-5 to force OT.
Roy's second of the game is the OT GWG
It wasn't a defensive masterpiece by any means, however, the Sabres gutted out the win on a night when they trailed 3-0 after twenty minutes and it appeared as their postseason ship had capsized.
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