Wild opponents are not big fans of ‘Moose’ sightings

The reaction from the crowd, “Moose” calls when he’s on home ice and winces from the fans in Las Vegas, motivates the Wild’s Marcus Foligno.

“I can hear that stuff,” he said. “It gets you going.”

But the adoration or notoriety, depending on where he plays, isn’t why Foligno has been throwing his body around the ice like a wrecking ball.

His objective as the Stanley Cup playoffs’ hits leader is to make life difficult on the Golden Knights’ defense, which he’s done — and not just by running into people — to help the Wild to a 2-2 split in the best-of-seven series.

“Have there been some hits where you go out of your way? Maybe,” Foligno said. “But most of it has been just finishing the first guy you see, the puck carrier, and away you go. So, that’s just been my job. I’m not trying to poke check and [make] stick plays, and Vegas is really good, too, where they can do a lot of give-and-go’s and burn you, and they got good speed up front.

“So, you gotta get a lick on somebody.”

A whopping 35 times, to be exact.

After doling out 11 hits in Game 1, Foligno added 12 in Game 2 to set the franchise record. The 23 combined matched the second most in the playoffs over a two-game span since the league began tracking hits in 2005-06.

“If you’re the one initiating it, it’s a lot easier,” said Foligno, who recovers in the cold tub, by resting and with food.

“Eat a lot now,” he chuckled.

There is a technique to the toughness and while the execution has become second nature for the 6-3, 226-pound winger, Foligno is processing the circumstances in real time.

He strives to hit into the boards rather than in open ice where there’s a “gray area, especially in this time of year” with what’s legal. Foligno is always trying to leverage his whole body, particularly the legs.

Earlier in his career, he hit with his shoulders and that led to injury. A coach told him to utilize his hips more. So, legs steady, and the point of contact is from the shoulder to the front.

“From the shoulder to the back, I think, is questionable,” Foligno said.

As for when to connect, that’s when the opposition releases the puck; later and the player is not expecting it.

“I always liked the feeling of you outmuscled another guy, and it was clean,” said Foligno, whose 253 hits in the regular season led the Wild and ranked 10th in the league.

Since joining the Wild in 2017, the alternate captain is also top 10 in the NHL at 1,591; Joel Eriksson Ek is second on the team in that span with 956.

“You’re going to [get] bumps and bruises,” Foligno said. “But nothing that’s going to be substantial that is going to hurt you long-term.”

That durability has shown vs. Vegas where Foligno, 33, has been the series’ most physical player and one of its more productive.

Foligno buried a rebound in the second period of the Wild’s 4-3 overtime loss to Vegas on Saturday in Game 4 at Xcel Energy Center for a three-game goal streak that is one shy of tying the franchise playoff record shared by Kirill Kaprizov (2022) and Marian Gaborik (2003).

At 5-on-5, the Wild have been outshot and outchanced when the defensively savvy Foligno (who has mostly matched up against the Golden Knights’ second line) has been on the ice, but they have outscored Vegas 2-1, according to Natural Stat Trick. Foligno has capitalized on three of his four shots in the series, which included an empty-netter in Game 3, and all three of his scoring chances have been high-danger looks.

But even if he is not putting pucks on net, Foligno is a threat because of how disruptive his style can be.

“When you chip a puck in and that D-man is not looking confident to make a clean pass, I think that’s your job, right, is to repeat, repeat,” said Foligno, who has absorbed only seven hits. “You gotta make sure you’re finishing your routes. There’s nothing worse, talking to our D, is a guy knowing you’re going to go back for it and you’re going to get hit.

“It makes you panic, and sometimes in the third period they throw an uncharacteristic play because they don’t want to get hit, and that’s what leads to turnovers and that leads to a chance where in a playoffs series, it matters.”

Now more than ever since Game 5 on Tuesday will put one team on the brink of elimination.

“You hope that if it goes to a Game 7, they’re not feeling so great,” Foligno said. “That’s my job, to always provide that physical play.”