FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The New York Rangers got some of what they needed from their defensem*n in Game 2.
Now, they need even more.
Adam Fox hasn’t looked like — well, like Adam Fox, really. Not yet in these playoffs. Which makes the fact the Rangers are even heading into Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final a bit of a shock, given that Fox’s pretty feed for Vincent Trocheck to open the scoring in Game 2 on Friday was just his fifth point in 12 playoff games this spring.
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It was also just his second primary assist. For context, he had four primary assists in the seven-game series loss to the New Jersey Devils last year. And two years ago, when the Rangers got this far and fell short to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games? He led all NHL defensem*n in those playoffs with nine primary assists.
So seeing Fox down by the hashmarks early in Game 2, ready to pounce on a turnover initiated by Alexis Lafrenière’s big hit on Carter Verhaeghe, was a welcome sight. It’s also been far too rare from the Rangers defense. Fox is the one we all have learned to look to for brilliant passes and well-timed forays up the ice, but the Rangers have gotten next to nothing from their entire defense corps so far, with just two total goals — both short-handed, one from K’Andre Miller in Game 2 of the first round and one from Jacob Trouba in Game 5 of the second round.
Again, for context: Each of the remaining three other playoff teams has at least one defenseman with more than two goals. The Edmonton Oilers have two, with Evan Bouchard (five goals) and Mattias Ekholm (three) each outscoring the entire Rangers defense.
“That’s down and in playoffs, your hope is (that) it’s a long road and things work their way up,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said on Thursday in the wake of his team’s 3-0 Game 1 loss. “Contributions from the back end were a big part of our success in the regular season. In the offensive zone, the first few series, they were trying to move, trying to get involved. The winning goal (in Game 6 against Carolina) where (Ryan Lindgren) takes it around the net, we’re fluid, we’re in motion. But definitely funneling more pucks to the net, getting in on the backside of a rush, I think that can help with production.”
The message was received in Game 2. Miller, who has just three points so far, was more engaged up the ice; Erik Gustafsson, also with three points, still struggled at times with Florida’s forecheck, but he too was involved in the offensive zone.
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There are factors as to why the Rangers defense is collectively underperforming on offense. Playing the Hurricanes, an elite possession team at five-on-five that possessed the puck well and often in that series, means you’re defending a lot more without the puck and looking for opportunities to get in the rush and cycle, as Lindgren did on Chris Kreider’s Game 6 winner.
The Panthers present a similar problem for the Rangers defense. They did a far better job in Game 2 moving the puck and themselves quickly to avoid being penned in, which created a bit more space up the ice; of course, it also created a few more opportunities against, as Clear Sight Analytics’ postgame chart showed an 8-5 high-danger scoring chance edge for the Panthers in Game 2 after a 5-3 Rangers edge in Game 1.
And we’ve seen the so-called “defensive” halves of the Rangers pairs trying to do their part. Lindgren, who missed all three off days between the second round and the conference final, has shown some of his hidden-but-always-existent offensive flair, capped by that excellent pinch off the point, speed move around the net and setup for Kreider in Raleigh last week.
Braden Schneider is actually second behind Fox with 13 individual scoring chances so far in the playoffs and has been noticeable jumping into the play — or, like in Game 1, creating his own chance up the ice with a breakaway when he hit the post. And Trouba, rightly dinged for some bad reads and breakdowns in his own end, is tied with Fox for the defense lead with five points.
But it really comes down to Fox. He may still be laboring after the leg-on-leg hit from the Washington Capitals’ Nick Jensen in Game 4 of the Rangers’ first-round sweep — Fox did miss a month in the regular season after a leg-on-leg collision with Sebastian Aho on the same leg/knee — and it’s cost him some of his usual high-level escapability, especially at the point in the offensive zone.
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After the Rangers’ 4-for-9 power-play start in the first two games of the Hurricanes series, the Rangers power play is 1-for-16 over the last six games. Fox is the quarterback for that talented group and if he’s not himself, it’s less likely to work well.
“I think we want to produce obviously. Some are expected to more than others, myself included, to produce a bit more offense,” Fox said on Thursday. “Our main goal is to defend first, especially against high-octane teams, not really force that offense. First and foremost is defending for us, but we’ve got to be able to contribute and produce that offense as well.”
It may not result in many goals the rest of the way. Game 2 was a 1-1 game for 55 minutes; with Igor Shesterkin and Sergei Bobrovsky locked in and the Panthers not only a team that gives up little but also generates very little, this series likely won’t be the wide-open affair that the Hurricanes series was.
So it’s even more important to identify and attack those offensive chances when the D-corps can — like Fox did on the opening goal. He may not be the Adam Fox we’ve gotten used to seeing, but even a few more chances generated will go a long way.
— Data courtesy Clear Sight Analytics
(Photo of Adam Fox shooting the puck as Carter Verhaeghe defends: Vincent Carchietta / USA Today)
Arthur Staple has covered New York hockey for The Athletic since 2019, initially on the Islanders beat before moving over to primarily focus on the Rangers in 2021. Previously, he spent 20 years at Newsday, where he covered everything from high schools to the NFL. Follow Arthur on Twitter @stapeathletic
