As soon as Marcus Foligno came off the ice Monday, Canadian reporters surrounded the Wild forward. They wanted to ask the Wild winger about his collision with Winnipeg defenseman Tyler Myers in Sunday's Game 3, when Myers went down hard in front of the Jets bench and had to be helped off the ice.
Some of them suspected nefarious intent, believing Foligno punched Myers' knee as the two players fell. Jets coach Paul Maurice was irked, too, disagreeing with the NHL's decision not to discipline Foligno. But after Monday's practice at Xcel Energy Center, Foligno insisted the tangle was a "freak accident" and wished his former Buffalo Sabres teammate a quick recovery.
Myers did not participate in the Jets' optional practice Monday, and Maurice declined to give an update on his condition.
"No, I did not punch his knee," Foligno said. "I looked at [the video] a hundred times, too, and my stick is in my hand. I think I'm trying to grab whatever I can before going down.
"Honestly, I'm not trying to hurt someone out there, especially a good friend like Myers. You just hope it's nothing too serious."
The injury happened when Foligno came in to block Myers' shot attempt from the right point during the second period of the Wild's 6-2 victory. Foligno fell into Myers, making contact from behind with the defenseman's lower body as his right foot hit the boards. Video of the incident sparked much discussion on social and traditional media.
"He fell," Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said. "Anybody that thinks anything different, that there was something to it, is trying to create something that's not there."
Losing Myers would deal a significant hit to the Jets. The 6-8 defenseman has two goals and an assist this series, and Winnipeg already is without injured blue liners Toby Enstrom and Dmitry Kulikov. If Myers cannot play in Tuesday's Game 4, he would be replaced by rookie Tucker Poolman, who grew up in East Grand Forks, Minn., and played at North Dakota.