Adam Fox will have to wait a year to make his NHL All-Star Game debut — c’mon now, we know that it won’t be longer than that — after being officially ruled out of next Saturday’s festivities in Las Vegas because of the upper-body injury he sustained in Columbus on Friday.
The reigning Norris Trophy winner, who went on injured reserve after taking an awkward hit into the glass delivered by Jackets’ defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, will be replaced on the Metro Division team by Washington center Evgeny Kuznetsov.
The Blueshirts, who play the Panthers at the Garden on Tuesday before going into a two-week hiatus, expect to have Fox when they resume the season on Feb. 15 at home against the Bruins.
Fox leads NHL defensemen in scoring with 47 points and 40 assists.
Adam Fox was placed on injured reserve after he exited the Rangers’ loss to the Blue Jackets. Getty Images
Igor Shesterkin was outstanding in stopping 40 shots in Sunday’s 3-2 victory over the Kraken, yet the goaltender bemoaned one of the two that got away from him. That was Yanni Gourde’s one-timer power-play screamer from the low right circle that tied the score 2-2 at 18:52 of the third period while Seattle was operating with the extra attacker after pulling its netminder.
“I don’t like letting up [goals] that late in the game,” Shesterkin said through an interpreter. “I should have just been better positioned and be ready for it.”
Shesterkin said that Henrik Lundqvist and he had exchanged a few words on Friday when the King stopped into the room to greet the Blueshirts before his number was retired.
“You can still feel that he radiates this positive energy that charges you up,” he said.
K’Andre Miller went up top with a wrist shot to win it at 19:26, pouncing on Mika Zibanejad’s right circle faceoff win while taking advantage of Chris Kreider’s pick on Riley Sheahan, who was complaining and looking for a penalty call while the New York defenseman was in the process of shooting.
K’Andre Miller’s game-winning goal earned him third star. NHLI via Getty Images“Mika has been really good on the draws this year so I had it in my mind it was going to come right back to me,” said Miller, who logged 23:46 of ice time. “Just wanted to get it on net.”
Zibanejad, 12-7 at the dots in this one, is at 52.3 percent for the season.
The Blueshirts went 1-for-3 on the power play (one lasting three seconds), while killing four of the five Kraken man-advantages (one lasting three seconds). … Filip Chytil, sidelined for the fourth straight game with a lower-body issue, has not been ruled out of Tuesday’s match against Florida. … First-year NHL linesman Mitch Hunt had a mighty difficult time dropping pucks for draws, repeatedly waving players out after unaccountable delays.
