Minnesota Wild winger Marcus Foligno will have a hearing for kneeing Winnipeg Jets centre Adam Lowry, per NHL Player Safety on Wednesday.
The hearing will take place on Thursday.
Foligno appeared to knee Lowry in the head at the end of a fight between the two during Winnipeg’s 2-0 win against the Wild on Tuesday. The two power forwards fought during a rough first period that also saw Winnipeg’s Brenden Dillon fight Minnesota’s Jordan Greenway at the same time. The double-billed main event was triggered by an open-ice hit by Dillon on Foligno, with Greenway grabbing Dillon immediately after.
Both players received a five-minute penalty for fighting, and Foligno received an extra two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty at the time of the incident.
After the game, Foligno said there wasn’t any intent on hitting Lowry with his knee during the scrum.
“I saw them complaining maybe I got my leg in there or something, but that was just me kind of ticked-off and trying to get at him. There was no intent to, you know, not throw with your fist or use another body part in there,” Foligno told reporters. “So, I’m sure there will be things said and their complaints, but for me it was just heat of the battle…just a little ticked off and you should resist once the linesmen get in there just for the respect factor but it is what it is. I mean, I’ve been in enough fights that I’ve held off, I’ve had it done to me. Just is what it is.”
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