Lost in the setback will be a strong effort from the B's fourth line of Tomas Nosek, Nick Foligno, and Jesper Froden. Foligno may have had, arguably, his best game in Black & Gold, securing a Gordie Howe hat trick with a fight, goal, and assist. The veteran forward nearly potted a second goal in the second period with a point-blank chance from the slot.
"He got into a scrap early, that stemmed from the last time we played them. That probably gave him a little bit of juice. Obviously went well for him," said Cassidy. "They were the one line probably for the first period and a half that was consistently doing that. They got rewarded for it."
Foligno tied the game, 1-1, at 8:15 of the first period when he planted himself at the top of the crease and tipped home a Brandon Carlo point shot. He was right in the mix again midway through the second providing a screen in front alongside Nosek (two assists). Carlo (goal, assist) let another point shot go and it made its way through the traffic to pull Boston within 3-2 with 8:45 left in the second.
"He typically will go to the net," said Cassidy. "The first goal, he's been there a lot. Finally got one to go his way. Then all of a sudden [that line's] making a few plays off the rush because they've done things right to back their D off before that.
"It was our best line tonight. Good for Nick. He's been working hard on his game, especially the last two weeks. He's stayed relatively healthy. So hopefully this will give him a little juice."
Foligno dropped the gloves with Anaheim's Sam Carrick just 2:20 into the contest, a rematch of a bout in the teams' first meeting on Jan. 24 at TD Garden. He subsequently missed four games with an upper-body injury.
"The fight was obviously a little history between him and I," said Foligno, who landed four shots on goal in 10:58 of ice time. "To be honest with you, I feel like my game has been building. I think that the role that I'm in right now is a little more defensive minded and simple so I'm trying to make sure I'm doing that for the club. But it's always nice to contribute. That's something that I feel like I can do."
Overall, Foligno has missed 18 games this season due to injury but is finally seeming to gain some traction having played the last 11 contests in a row. The 34-year-old has also been adapting to more of a fourth-line role as opposed to the top-six responsibilities he's been used to for most of his career.
"Obviously you want to play but I missed a lot of time," said Foligno. "The injuries didn't help early on. The coach is trying to get to know you and you're trying to get accustomed to players and it just didn't work out.
"We took a more simple approach, let my game kind of come to me instead of trying to search for it in those minutes when the team needs to get going. I feel like I'm starting to find my game and obviously the role that we're playing and trying to be a really solid line."
