Marcus Foligno had an odd fight Tuesday. ©2016, Dan Hickling, Olean Times Herald

Sabres’ Marcus Foligno on fixing hair mid-fight: ‘I’m sure he had a laugh’

BUFFALO – Sabres winger Marcus Foligno has a simple explanation why he fixed his hair at a bizarre time – during a heavyweight scrap against Shawn Thornton, the NHL’s dean of fighters – in Tuesday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers.

“Just try to get readjusted and get ready for round two of the first fight,” a smiling Foligno said this morning inside KeyBank Center.

The bout was a fight lover’s dream, the 6-foot-3, 228-pound Foligno against the 6-foot-2, 218-pound Thornton, who’s 39 years old.

After Thornton pried Foligno away from the Florida crease, the two began fighting. Foligno’s helmet was eventually knocked off and the two became untangled.

But they weren’t done.

As they squared off for round two, Foligno ran his hands through his hair three times to keep it out of his eyes, he said.

It looked more like Foligno was styling it, however.

Within minutes, social media went wild. The Sabres quickly created a GIF, which Foligno’s brother, Nick, retweeted.

Foligno said Thornton, the toughest guy he has ever fought, didn’t notice the hair-fixing.

“I’m sure he had a laugh after,” he said.

The hair overshadowed what Foligno called a “good fight” shortly after the Sabres tied the game at 2.

“He’s a tough competitor,” Foligno said. “Shawn Thornton, I got a lot of respect for that guy. He’s been through a lot of fights in his career. So it was good. The boys were very pumped after.”

Sabres coach Dan Bylsma said the fight “sparked Marcus’ game.”

“There’s no mistaking what Thornton was doing coming on the ice and coming to the net there and doing what he did,” Bylsma said. “He was trying to spark his team with what he was doing. That’s a big man and a tough guy to have to deal with, and Marcus I thought did a great job in the fight, stood up for us and his teammates. …

“That’s the way Marcus has got to play. He’s got to be a big, strong, physical guy for us. He should be a force to be reckoned with. He proved it not so much with the hair thing, but with the fight.”

Foligno usually fixes his hair at a more appropriate time.

“Just when I’m trying to style it in the mirror,” he joked.

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