Nick Foligno reveals why he fought Corey Perry
On Thursday night in Toronto, Maple Leafs captain John Tavares was rushed off the ice on a stretcher after colliding with the Montreal Canadiens early in the first-round playoff matchup.
It was an unintentional collision: Tavares collided with Habs defender Ben Chariot, fell to the ice defenceless, and was struck by forward Corey Perry's knee.
Before he was taken away, trainers and paramedics from both teams raced to the ice and attended to the veteran forward. For several minutes, the game was paused. The Canadiens won this game to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Nick Foligno, a teammate of Tavares, thought he had no other choice. With Tavares on his way to the hospital, the ice was clear and players ready to return to action. At the next face-off, the veteran forward dropped the gloves with Perry.
Perry realised it was an accident that couldn't be prevented, so they thought about it for a while. Captain Shea Weber also came in to speak to Foligno in order to persuade him that a war was pointless. However, the Leafs' forward just witnessed it in real time and decided to do something special for his captain.
Foligno was heavily chastised during the game, especially on social media, for dropping the gloves with Perry on a freak match.
«It was horrible. Life comes into play at that point and seeing how he was in pain, it made you sick to your stomach,» said Foligno.
He added later, regarding why he dropped the gloves: «Captain is laying on the ice. It's nothing more than that. I think Perry obliged. It's unfortunate. I don't think it's malicious but my captain is laying on the ice. Our captain. You don't want to see that and I think it just addressed the situation and everyone moves on from it.»
It was time.
| POLL | ||
Did Foligno make the right decision by fighting Perry? | ||
| Yes | 117 | 60.3 % |
| No | 77 | 39.7 % |
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