Adam Fox brings spark back to Rangers power play…
It didn’t take long after Adam Fox’s shoulder injury for his absence on the power play to — again — turn out to be obtrusive. The Rangers had just began to make strides with their first unit after struggling to start the yr before Fox exited their Nov. 29 loss to the Lightning and didn’t return for a month.
But in two video games with Fox back in the lineup, the Blueshirts already have collected three objectives in 4 alternatives — with the defenseman amassing one Wednesday before Mika Zibanejad and Artemi Panarin adopted two days later in the Winter Classic.
The Rangers entered Sunday’s video games ranked twelfth in the NHL in power-play share (21.2) after opening the season as one of the NHL’s worst items.
With the Rangers needing to keep tempo in a packed Eastern Conference as they attempt to climb toward a postseason berth during the second half of the season, they’ll need to rely on persevering with to maximize their man-advantage alternatives, and Fox’s return, even with a small pattern dimension for now, already has paid dividends.
“Special teams play a big role in their ability to influence the outcomes,” head coach Mike Sullivan said after the Rangers practiced Sunday forward of their home sport Monday against the Mammoth. “… [Fox is] an elite power-play defenseman. His ability to see the ice. His poise with the puck. His panic threshold. He doesn’t throw pucks away. Just his ability to hold onto a puck, to move laterally, to scale the blue line, change his angle opens things up for himself and others.”
Adam Fox #23 of the New York Rangers shoots the puck into the offensive zone during the first period of the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic sport. NHLI via Getty Images
“And I think that’s what makes him unique. That’s why he’s such a difficult player to replace up there when we don’t have him, so I don’t think there’s any doubt that the power play can be a difference-making aspect of our overall team game. The most recent games are evidence of that.”
When Fox missed time, the Rangers experimented with a five-forward setup and watched as that turned into a catastrophe. They examined Scott Morrow with the first line, too. And while they’re still without an injured J.T. Miller, even just the presence of Fox — who has collected 28 factors in 29 video games this season and was just snubbed from the United States Winter Olympics roster — has sparked a power-play group that collectively went 6-for-39 across the 14 video games without him.
He stepped into a one-timer from just inside the purpose late in the second period of Wednesday’s loss, ripping a shot past Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren. Then, the objectives from the Blueshirts forwards adopted in Miami. Sullivan said the unit hasn’t “seemed to miss a beat.”
And with the Rangers struggling to produce objectives at occasions, particularly while at the Garden, a resurgent power play may help ignite their offensive manufacturing.
“When he got hurt, it forced a lot of decisions and putting different players in different spots,” Sullivan said, “and I think it shows you the impact that Foxy has on our power play, his ability to settle things down.”
Noah Laba, week to week with an upper-body injury, skated on his own for the Rangers. Miller, out since Dec. 20 with an upper-body injury, practiced in a pink noncontact jersey for the second consecutive session.
The next Rangers win will mark the five hundredth of Sullivan’s profession.
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