BUFFALO – In the last four games, Sabres winger Marcus Foligno has fought three times, as many scraps as the young veteran had in his previous 58 outings.
Why has Foligno, 25, been fighting so much recently?
“There’s games where I feel like we haven’t played our best, so you need a spark … you might show a little bit of frustration out there,” Foligno said Wednesday inside KeyBank Center.
Frustration and payback. In Friday’s ugly 5-1 road loss to the New York Islanders, Foligno fought Johnny Boychuk, retribution for the defenseman’s hit from behind on Sabres center Jack Eichel a week earlier.
“It is him stepping up, recognizing the time and the place for our team,” Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said. “I think the one (in Brooklyn) was an answer back to a hard play on Jack the previous game, and one I think we all took note of. It was a good time to do it.”
Foligno, who has 22 fights in his career, according to hockeyfights.com, said “it’s fun to do.”
“I enjoy it,” he said. “As long as you’re not getting hit too hard, it’s fine. But it’s part of the game. I think it’s there for a reason. All the guys, you can go around to every NHL locker room, a fight builds chemistry of a team and it shows people care.”
The Sabres, who have nine fights as a team, host the Boston Bruins tonight.
