It didn't take the Minnesota Wild long to get payback for their injured captain on Saturday as they visited the Nashville Predators.
Less than two minutes into the contest, Wild forward Yakov Trenin and Predators pest Zachary L'Heureux dropped the gloves to even the score from a play on Dec. 31 that earned Nashville's 21-year-old a three-game suspension.
In that incident 19 days ago, L'Heureux earned a match penalty and game misconduct for slew footing Minnesota's Jared Spurgeon — a move that has kept the veteran defenceman out of the lineup ever since.
The play came less than four minutes into the middle frame, as the two skated into the corner before L'Heureux kicked Spurgeon's legs out from under him. The 35-year-old's right leg was contorted into an awkward position as he collided with the boards.
L'Heureux was handed the three-game trip to the press box by the NHL's Department of Player Safety two days later.
Trenin stepping up for Spurgeon was a move that may have been telegraphed by the Wild leading into Saturday's game, as earlier in the week, Minnesota forward Marcus Foligno said, "there will be a price to pay" when the two sides met, per The Athletic's Joe Smith and Michael Russo.
"When you see a guy cheap-shotted, that stuff needs to be answered for," Foligno said. "The L'Heureux thing is blatant, trying to hurt a guy. We got into the boards so many times with D-men. You just guide them in. It's not the '80s or '90s where you can get away with anything on the forecheck."
Foligno also conveyed his displeasure with L'Heureux only getting a three-game suspension, adding, "It’s a dirty play. It should be more games. He shouldn’t be able to just walk out of Xcel that night because (Spurgeon) wasn’t able to.”
Fast forward to Saturday, and tempers only continued to flare between the two sides after Trenin and L'Heureux fought. Within the next five minutes, Foligno and Predators defenceman Luke Schenn engaged in some fisticuffs of their own, and Ryan Hartman took on Mark Jankowski.
Minnesota continued to go after L'Heureux in the first period once he served his five minutes for fighting, with Jakub Lauko and Brock Faber — who earned a roughing penalty in the process — taking runs at the rookie, but L'Heureux kept his cool on both occasions.
After the game, Foligno told reporters that he liked that the solution was handled "the old school way," and called his fight with Luke Schenn "mutual."
"Two teams that don't like each other," Foligno continued.
L'Heureux has had no shortage of controversy in his career, even before reaching the NHL, as he was suspended nine times in the QMJHL and twice in the AHL, which is something the Predators acknowledged ahead of puck drop on Saturday.
"It's an unfortunate event, I would say, and it just so happened that it hurt a guy," Nashville's Michael McCarron said of the L'Heureux slew foot to The Hockey News' Emma Lingan. "I don't think he means to do it. His resume may say he's a dirty player, but I've been around him quite a long time and I don’t think he's necessarily a dirty player. I think he just plays really hard. And it’s unfortunate that that happened, and also unfortunate what was said.
"I mean, obviously, they want to seek retribution in some way. But like I said, we have guys on our team that will protect our teammates, and it should be a good one tonight."
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