{"id":318119,"date":"2025-12-01T09:19:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T09:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/318119\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T09:19:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T09:19:11","slug":"rangers-face-uphill-battle-with-adam-fox-on-ltir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/318119\/","title":{"rendered":"Rangers Face Uphill Battle With Adam Fox On LTIR"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Rangers were riding a three-game win-streak into Saturday\u2019s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It was tied for their longest win-streak of the year, and their second three-game streak in November. But on the back of that fortune, the Rangers have been dealt a major lineup blow. Star defenseman Adam Fox<\/a> sustained an upper-body injury that has landed him on long-term injured reserve<\/a>. The Rangers avoided worst-case-scenario, with Fox expected to return before the end of the year. Even then, New York will face their toughest challenge of the season with at least 10 games without Fox.<\/p>\n

Fox fills a clear #1 role for the Rangers. He has averaged 23:50 in ice time through 27 games this season, his highest usage since the 2022-23 season. He\u2019s scored 26 points in those appaerances, tied for most on the team with Artemi Panarin<\/a>. Fox also leads the defense with 51 shots on goal and ranks in the top-three with 31 blocked shots. He is a focal piece of play in all three zones when he\u2019s on the ice, and now leaves a hole that will take multiple Rangers to fill.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>New York has proven capable of filling the void in the past. They posted a 3-2-3 record in eight games without Fox last season, and a 7-2-1 record in 10 games without him in 2023-24. It was Erik Gustafsson<\/a> who stepped up for Fox in 2023. He posted 11 points and averaged 20 minutes of ice time in those 10 games, while Jacob Trouba<\/a> and K\u2019Andre Miller<\/a> averaged 24 minutes in a more defense-oriented role. The offense was a bit more spread in Fox\u2019s absence last year \u2013 with Miller netting four points, while William Borgen<\/a> and Zachary Jones<\/a> each scored three, in eight games.<\/p>\n

The Rangers have turned over the bulk of those difference-makers over the last two seasons, but did just gain Borgen back from an extended injury of his own. He was leaned on heaivly following Fox\u2019s departure from Saturday\u2019s game, and should continue to fill an important all-zones role in the short-term. New York will also have Vladislav Gavrikov<\/a>, who has looked sharp on both sides of the puck as of late. He has nine points and a plus-four in 15 games this month, and 11 points in 27 games on the full season.<\/p>\n

Filling Fox\u2019s absence has proven to be a job for two or three players. The Rangers will have to wait and see who can step up to support Borgen and Gavrikov. Carson Soucy<\/a> has four points and a plus-five in 23 games this season and Braden Schneider<\/a> has five points in 27 games. Both play a physical and responsible game, and have shown an ability to stand up to tough minutes when called upon.<\/p>\n

But if they can pillar the Rangers through the next month is yet to be seen. New York has had a positive month \u2013 posting an 8-7-0 record and +2 goal-differential. They\u2019ve avoided the depths of the league that they landed in last season, but still need another push to stand out in a crowded Eastern Conference. Now, they will have to make that heave without one of their most impactful players. The team has proven up to the test before, and aren\u2019t doomed to struggles just yet, but this will be the toughest test that head coach Mike Sullivan<\/a> has faced yet in his first year with the Rangers.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York Rangers were riding a three-game win-streak into Saturday\u2019s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[24944,141507,49,48,85702,5718,751,4247,14116,82,141508,141509],"class_list":["post-318119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-adam-fox","tag-braden-schneider","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-carson-soucy","tag-injury","tag-new-york-rangers","tag-newsstand","tag-players","tag-sports","tag-vladislav-gavrikov","tag-william-borgen"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}