If you were to create a prototypical NHL playoff forward from scratch, you would take some size, add some grit and honesty, throw in a willingness to make a “play without gloves on” when necessary, and make said player a bulldog around the opponent’s net.

When you were finished putting all of those elements together, that forward might look a lot like Minnesota Wild veteran Marcus Foligno.

Not only does Foligno lead all NHL players this spring with 35 postseason hits, he already has more than doubled his career postseason goals number, scoring in three of the first four games of the Wild’s first-round series with Vegas. With Foligno still signed for three more years, at $4 million annually, it’s a good sign for a franchise that believes it’s on the cusp of real playoff success

“The attributes he plays with are built for playoff time,” Wild coach John Hynes said following the team’s Monday morning practice at TRIA Rink. Foligno is often a willing fighter in the regular season, but Hynes said a key to playoff success this year has been playing a physical role while staying out of the penalty box.

“He’s under control. When he finds times to get hits, he’s getting hits. When they’re not, he’s not chasing it. He’s not overly emotional,” Hynes said. “He’s mentally engaged in the game. He’s physically engaged in the game. He’s playing the style of game with his puck play that sets him up to be a strong player, and then when he’s getting his goals, he’s in and around the net-front.”

The Wild trailed early in Game 4, before Marco Rossi forged a tie, and Foligno gave Minnesota its first lead, lurking around Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill and slamming home the rebound of a Ryan Hartman shot after Hill made the initial save.

It was a veteran play in a part of the rink where you know there will be contact from the opposing defense. But Foligno has made a living with his size and dogged determination in those “dirty areas” of the ice.

While the playoff numbers are unprecedented in his career, Wild teammates say that this is the Folgino they see throughout the regular season and in practice.

“I love him, all year long,” Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. “So many nights when we’re a little flat or something, he brings so much energy with the way he plays — dropping the gloves, hitting, talking on the ice and on the bench.

“It’s the same way in the playoffs. He has maybe upped his hit count a little, and that’s been crazy, but he’s fun to watch. Love, love, love to watch his play and to watch him be productive.”

Fleury added that several years of practicing against Foligno, and trying to see incoming pucks around the forward’s 6-foot-3, 227-pound frame is the challenge that Hill faces, again, over the next two or three games.

Foligno is from a hockey family.

His father, Mike, played more than 1,000 games, and older brother Nick is skating for the Chicago Blackhawks. Of note, in their sibling rivalry, is the fact that Nick has twice been to the second round of the playoffs, with Columbus in 2018 and 2019, while Marcus has never seen Round 2.

That might be an extra incentive for the younger Foligno brother to continue his playoff prowess, with the Wild filled with confidence headed back to Vegas for Game 5 on Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena. Puck drop is set for 8:30 p.m. CDT.

The Wild won Game 2 in Vegas, and their 23 regular-season road wins are tied for third among NHL teams.

“It gives us a lot of confidence,” Foligno said. “I mean, we’ve got to understand that we’ve got to play the same way and play like we did in spurts of Game 1 and majority of Game 2. … The road doesn’t faze this team.”

Blue line change?

Hynes did not use rookie defenseman Zeev Buium in overtime of Game 4, sticking with veterans on the back end. At Monday’s practice, Buium was not skating with the top six defenseman, and while not tipping his lineup hand, the coach admitted a change might be coming in Game 5.

“I haven’t made a final decision on the D, but it is in consideration,” Hynes said.

Buium has a point in his four career games while playing on the Wild’s top power-play unit, and also took a costly four-minute penalty in the third period of their overtime loss in Game 4.

Veteran Jon Merrill would be the most likely candidate to take Buium’s place on the back end.