While the Minnesota Wild cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche to finish their regular season on Friday, they might've lost a key player in the process.
In the first period, Colorado’s Kurtis MacDermid sent Marcus Foligno to the locker room with a knee-on-knee hit. Foligno did not return and will be evaluated Saturday, while MacDermid received a major penalty and game misconduct on the play.
Wild head coach Dean Evason had some choice words for MacDermid following the game.
"What a terrible hit. What a terrible, terrible hit," he said. "Obviously, (Foligno) doesn't come back to play, so it's serious enough that one of the toughest guys I've ever seen can't come back and play, there's no precaution.
"It's an awful thing to happen, especially this time, forget about anytime, but what's the point of it? What's the point?" said Evason, before also referencing a cross-check by Colorado's Logan O'Connor on Dmitry Kulikov.
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar was more diplomatic.
“Foligno gets a touch on it and tries to get out of the way. I didn’t mind the call. Looking back at it, at first I thought it’d be a two with him trying to get out of the way of it, they clip legs. After looking at it, our guy’s spread out, so I understand the five-minute major.”
The Avalanche begin the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, while the Wild kick off their Cup run Monday against the St. Louis Blues. If both teams win in the first round, they'll face off in Round 2. Watch the entire Stanley Cup Playoffs on Sportsnet and Sportsnet NOW.
With files from Associated Press
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