Fehr, Foligno come up big for Wild in win against Kings

Just before the pass arrived, Fehr was hauled down but the puck deflected in anyway off a sliding Fehr, who took the net off its moorings moments after the puck crossed the line.
A quick review ensued and the Wild was ahead in short order.

Not pretty, but effective.
"I'm usually playing with a man down. That's my forté," Fehr said with a smile. "I had a pretty good one in Pittsburgh, a short-handed one. I don't think [Thursday's goal qualifies] as a pretty one, but it worked. Luckily, it just hit my stick, I saw where it hit the stick and luckily it went in before the net went off."
The goal against the Kings wasn't shorthanded, but it came in a 4-on-4 situation where Wild coach Bruce Boudreau told Fehr and linemate Marcus Foligno to play it like they were shorthanded.
"We both looked at each other and said, 'OK' and we got a goal out of it," Foligno said. "Things happen like that, we kept it simple and it kind of developed right when we got off the bench. Just built some speed, swung wide and Fehrsie did too and we got a goal out of it."
The fact Fehr and Foligno were even on the ice in such a situation is a testament to the confidence he has in his veteran fourth liners.
Fehr, who played for Boudreau years ago with the Washington Capitals and for him with the Caps' AHL affiliate in Hershey, was brought in as a free agent over the summer to bring a right-handed element to the center position.

"The one thing about both of them that I really like is they block shots," Boudreau said. "So they make it very difficult for the puck to get through. When you got shot blockers, and Zach blocks shots, it makes it work for you."
Foligno finished last season playing some of his best hockey in a Wild uniform and has seemingly picked up right where he left off. A lot of the time, that doesn't mean recognition on the scoresheet, but instead, being trusted in the types of situations they faced midway through the first period on Thursday.
Against the Kings, it was both.
"I'm very confident in my game right now, I think it's just something that I always want to ... things like penalty killing get you in games and things like that and I just want to keep proving that to this team that I can be that guy that can step in and do things like that," Foligno said. "It just gets you in it, gets the energy levels up and that contributes to 5-on-5 play too so as long as I'm physical and moving my feet, and that's something I do on a regular basis, then I'm gonna be effective."
In his exit meeting with Boudreau last season, Foligno was told he would have an opportunity to kill penalties. Now, he and Fehr are Boudreau's first calls when he needs a big kill, like the Wild did three times late on Thursday.
Minnesota took a trio of infractions over the final 7 1/2 minutes of regulation in a one-goal against the Kings, but the Wild escaped, scoring a pair of empty-net goals in the final minute of play to close out scoring.

"Their sticks are phenomenal. Foligno] blocked a pass over to Kovalchuk there on the last one that was huge because obviously not the guy you want teeing it up over there," said Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk, who finished with an assist on the winning goal and 23 saves. "Making big blocks and they're doing great down ice pressure, so when you can kind of have a combo like that that can get them more minutes too, it's going to be big for us."
The Wild entered the season with a top-9 group of forwards it was very confident in. But the play of Foligno and Fehr on the fourth line has provided Minnesota with a big boost as well, especially if their solid play continues.
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"It took a little while. We're a heavy forecheck line and you don't know where the routes are going all the time it's tough to recover the puck, but I thought the last couple games we've been getting in there quick and putting the pucks where we can get them back," Fehr said. "That's the key for our line. We're not going to make finesse plays at the blue line, we're going to put it in and get it back."
"We use a lot of the star players and that sometimes hinders them when it comes to power-play time or just 5-on-5," Foligno said. "Role players can help out with PK and it's good me and Eric Fehr are doing that."
Chipping in offensively every now and then doesn't hurt either.
Related:
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