A few seconds later, Connor Murphy made sure Tyler Ennis knew he was there with a big hit. For much of the night, the sound of the boards rattling echoed throughout the arena.
In the second period, things boiled over when Foligno and John Hayden dropped the mitts near center ice. It was just the second fight between the two teams in the past five years, and the first since March 29, 2016, when Matt Dumba and Andrew Shaw squared off in a game at Xcel Energy Center.
3. The fight seemed to energize the Blackhawks, who took the game over until the final minute of the period.
With Foligno and Hayden cooling their jets in the penalty box, their eyes were trained to the right in the direction of the Blackhawks offensive end. Chicago controlled possession and had several great opportunities, but were stymied at every turn. If if wasn't Jared Spurgeon sniffing out one chance with some nifty stick work, it was Eric Staal doing more of the same.