The damage from one of the Rangers’ worst performances of the season may be far worse than the final score.
Late in Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Lightning at Madison Square Garden, star defenseman Adam Fox was taken to the locker room with an apparent injury to his left arm and did not return.
Fox’s status going forward is unclear, with coach Mike Sullivan stating that the Long Island native was being evaluated for an upper-body injury.
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Tampa Bay’s Brandon Hagel, who scored the game’s first two goals, delivered a big hit to Fox into the boards, which left the defenseman holding his arm, before being taken out of the game with 12:57 remaining in the third period.
Earlier in the game, Fox delivered a cross-ice assist to J.T. Miller for the Rangers’ only goal. It was his team-high 23rd assist of the season and sixth straight game with an assist — tied for the second-longest streak among all NHL skaters — making him the first Rangers defenseman to record 10 assists in six games since he did so in spring 2021.
The Rangers received a hint of life without their irreplaceable defenseman when they had a chance to cut into the 3-1 deficit on a power play just minutes after Fox left the ice. Without his point man, Sullivan went with five forwards.
“He’s a Norris [Trophy–winning] defenseman,” Mika Zibanejad said. “He’s been running our power play for so long. When that happens that quickly, you’re just trying to simplify things, to try to get pucks to the net and not overcomplicate things … It’s a different type of power play when he’s not there … It’s not for the better.”
Igor Shesterkin was again asked to save the day. Now, his coach may ask much more of him.
Following Friday’s win in Boston, Shesterkin started in net on consecutive days for just the second time since February 2023, making 31 saves Saturday as his teammates were outshot 35-13.
Backup Jonathan Quick, who suffered a lower-body injury in Utah on Nov. 22, was unavailable for the fourth straight game. Though Quick has been skating with the team, his return date is unclear.
Dylan Garand, a 2020 fourth-round pick who has never appeared in an NHL game, has served as the backup since being called up from AHL Hartford, but Sullivan doesn’t seem eager to rest the Vezina Trophy winner and roll the dice with a 23-year-old rookie.
“We wanted to get through this week, and we’ll see how much progress [Quick] makes and then we’ll make a decision on where it goes,” Sullivan said. “What I will tell you is that we’re very much aware of Shesty’s workload.
“I think to this point in the season, we’ve done a fairly decent job in managing his workload between him and Quickie, so that when you get in situations like this, if you have to lean on him a little bit, we believe we can, and he’s capable.
“But obviously, that’s not something long term that we’re comfortable with. And if it requires moving other guys in there, then we’ll make those decisions at the time.”
Defenseman Will Borgen was back in action after missing the previous five games with an upper-body injury … Conor Sheary, who appeared in the Rangers’ first 24 games of the season, was a healthy scratch for the third straight game.
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