Marcus Foligno’s First Hat Trick Was A Microcosm Of the Culture the Wild Have Built

Marcus Foligno’s long-awaited first NHL hat trick was more than a scoring outburst. It was a moment that captured who he is as a leader and a teammate. It was also a night that showcased Vladimir Tarasenko’s unselfishness and the culture this Wild group is trying to build. 

After 915 games without a three-goal night, Foligno finally broke through against the Toronto Maple Leafs. He did it in a way that flawlessly matched his blue-collar, team-first reputation.

For years, Foligno felt like the guy who was always stuck on two goals. He piled up 12 career multi-goal games without ever finishing one off with a third. That changed in Toronto, when he scored twice through the first 40 minutes and then buried an empty-netter late in the third to seal a 6-3 Wild win. 

The milestone came in his 915th game, an almost absurd number for a player who has done just about everything else in the league except put a third puck past the goalie. Foligno managed to double his season goal total in one night, capping a surge of five goals in four games from a guy who went the first 30 games of the year without scoring.

What made the night even more special was how his teammates handled it, especially Vladimir Tarasenko. The Russian forward had scored twice against Toronto, setting himself up for a chance at a hat trick in a game where he was clearly feeling it. 

Late in the third, with Toronto’s net empty and both players sitting on two goals, Tarasenko could have chased his own accolades and wired a shot from distance to try to complete his hat trick. Instead, he slid the puck over to Foligno, giving the veteran forward the chance to hit a mark that had somehow eluded him for more than a decade in the league. Foligno finished it to seal the game. 

In a season where the Wild have leaned on their leadership group to keep things steady through injuries and inconsistency, that one play said a lot about the room. Tarasenko’s decision to pass up his shot for Foligno’s moment fit perfectly with how the team views their alternate captain. Foligno has sacrificed for years, taken the hard matchups, fought, killed penalties, and done the grunt work so others could shine.

Foligno’s hat trick landed at a time when Minnesota needed his voice and presence as much as his offense. Coaches and teammates repeatedly hold up the 34-year-old as a heartbeat player, an alternate captain whose value often shows up more in posture and tone than in the scoresheet. 

When the Wild were banged up and searching for traction earlier in the season, John Hynes highlighted Foligno’s example as a reason the group never splintered. Hynes said Foligno stayed patient through a long goal drought and kept doing the detail work that defines his game. That ability to push standards, absorb frustration, and still bring energy has made him one of the central leadership pillars in Minnesota’s room, alongside the stars who drive the offense.

Foligno’s “team first” label does not stop when he steps away from the rink. He and his brother Nick have turned their family story into a platform for meaningful philanthropic work, especially in the fight against cancer. The Foligno brothers helped launch the “Foligno Face Off,” a season-long fundraising campaign in partnership with the Wild, the Chicago Blackhawks, the NHL, the NHLPA, and the V Foundation for Cancer Research. It honors their late mother Janis, who died of breast cancer in 2009. 

Fans are encouraged to donate, often in $17 increments, matching the number both brothers wear. 100% of proceeds go to breast cancer research through the V Foundation. 

Beyond that initiative, the brothers have continued to lend their names and time to hometown charity events, using their profile to draw attention and financial support to local causes in Sudbury and to the broader Hockey Fights Cancer efforts. 

For Marcus, the same qualities that make him a trusted voice in the Wild’s dressing room, empathy, competitiveness, and a willingness to do the unglamorous work, are evident in the way he engages with fans, families, and community organizations.

So when Tarasenko slid that puck over instead of going for his own hat trick, it was more than just an unselfish play in a blowout. It was a nod to a veteran who has spent his career lifting others, finally getting lifted by his teammates on a night that will sit near the top of his career memories. 

For a player defined by leadership, physicality, and community impact long before goals ever defined him, Foligno’s first hat trick felt perfectly on brand. He earned it the hard way, shared with the people around him, and finished with the same workmanlike joy that has made him one of the Wild’s most respected voices on and off the ice.