NEW YORK — There’s not a lot that shocks people in a place like New York City.
It’s a metropolis where brawls between costumed characters in Times Square occur with regularity, impromptu jam sessions on the 4 train are muted by commuters plugging up their ears with AirPods and a video of a rat dragging a slice of pizza down a set of subway stairs was met with bemusement, rather than abject disgust, on the interwebs.
But for some Bruins fans — especially those who remain cognizant of the events that played out last season — what transpired during the third period of Thursday’s showdown between the Bruins and Rangers at Madison Square Garden likely prompted a double take.
While a B’s top line featuring both Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand is hardly a surprise, the other forward flanking them on the right side sure was.
Because after being tabbed as an offseason buyout candidate and later waiver-wire casualty, Nick Foligno was the winger that Jim Montgomery turned to as Boston looked to put the finishing touches on its seventh-straight win.
And it was a promotion well-earned, to say the least.
“I just wanted to get him more ice time,” Montgomery said postgame of Foligno’s bump up to the top line. “I reward players for playing the right way.... . It’s because he's just making things happen out there.”
Foligno’s top-six reps on Thursday stood as the most tangible evidence yet that his optimistic comments and internal assurance that a rebound campaign was in order are being realized out on the ice.
After scoring just two goals and posting 11 total points over 64 games last season, Foligno is already at three goals and seven points over 11 games in 2022-23 — headlined by a dominant performance against the Rangers in which Foligno looked like the north-south, tenacious and poised veteran that Boston hoped it was going to get when it signed him in the summer of 2021.
“He looked like the Nick Foligno that I coached against when I was in Dallas and he was in Columbus," Montgomery said. "And he just keeps getting better. And you can tell his confidence is growing.”
After 13 different players recorded a point in Boston’s impressive OT win over the Penguins on Tuesday, that balanced scoring attack continued against the Blueshirts. In total, nine different B’s recorded a point against New York — with Boston beating the reigning Vezina Trophy winner in Igor Shesterkin four times on a night where both Bergeron and Marchand were held off the scoresheet.
But down in the bottom-six grouping, Foligno was often the conduit that jumpstarted a number of fruitful O-zone chances for Boston’s supporting cast. Even last season, Foligno’s effort and toughness were never in question. Oftentimes, it was his late arrivals on pucks that often negated his impact, especially offensively.
Whether it’s just being another year removed from a lingering back injury or a new offseason program, Foligno has been considerably more fleet-footed so far in 2022-23 — regularly serving as the first man in on the forecheck and making a habit out of winning pucks.
Hampus Lindholm might have been the one to set up Charlie Coyle’s third-period goal with a crisp wraparound feed, but it was Foligno’s efforts down low to protect the puck against K'Andre Miller that created the O-zone time necessary to set that tally in motion.
It was one of a number of heady plays by Foligno with the puck on his stick, another of which led to the primary helper on Trent Frederic’s quick one-time strike that gave Boston the lead for good at 6:04 in the third.
But even before Foligno was finally rewarded on the scoresheet with his pair of helpers, his play was getting noticed by just about everyone on Boston’s bench.
“He was a man on a mission, well before that,” Coyle said of Foligno’s multi-point night. “I thought he was our best player tonight, arguably. Been like that all year. He was winning battles, board battles, making plays, taking pucks to the net. It was only deserving that he got rewarded there with a couple of points at the end. It’s not all about that. He’ll tell you that firsthand. But he deserves them for the way he’s playing.”
FREDDY FROM FLIGGY! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/KjMxMSbRcU
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 4, 2022
Of course, even if Foligno didn’t open this season by turning back the clock and putting himself on pace for 40+ points, the rest of the B’s roster would have objected heavily to any narrative that the former Columbus captain was a detriment to the team.
Known as “Uncle Nick” by Jakub Lauko and a few of the B’s younger crop of skaters, Foligno has already woven himself into the fabric of Boston’s leadership grouping, following the lead of a captain in Bergeron who openly vouched for Foligno to ink a deal with the Bruins two summers ago.
Granted, it’s easy to see — be it his presence in the room or his on-ice messages of encouragement — why a vet like Foligno is so beloved on a team, especially one focused on a title like this B’s squad. But those intangibles — fair or not — can only go so far if the actual production on the ice isn’t in lockstep with those traits.
Such hasn’t been a hurdle this season for Foligno, to say the least.
And while it’s to be expected that Foligno’s reps with Marchand and Bergeron might end up being few and far between, one thing doesn’t seem up for debate anymore — Foligno’s guaranteed spot in this lineup.
“I think that was the hard part. Like I told you guys earlier in the year when you guys were asking me all these questions — it was I had to go out and do it and I felt confident I could,” Foligno said of his bounce-back season. "Last year is last year, and I put that behind me, and I know what I can do in this league when I'm feeling good and confident.
“And especially the role that I've been given and the conversations we've had here in this group. You find a group that comes together the way this group does, and just I think it gives you an extra boost, as a player, especially the one I play. You put your heart in every game. And this group makes it fun to come to the rink every day and try to get better. And you can see that — every single night, it's somebody different making a contribution. And it's fun to be a part of.”