TORONTO — With the official declaration coming down that Rangers winger Brendan Lemieux would miss three-to-four weeks with the fractured hand he suffered in Friday night’s win over the Hurricanes at the Garden, the question arose of whom the club would call up to help fill his spot. And how they made that decision was pretty easy.
“It’s a simple phone call — who’s playing the best?” coach David Quinn said before that call-up, Steven Fogarty, got just 2:46 of ice time in his team’s 5-4 overtime win against the Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
“[Fogarty] is smart. He competes. He’s got a good brain. He’s earned this opportunity,” Quinn said. “From an organization standpoint, it really is that simple. Call down, you find out who’s playing the best. I think that sends a message throughout your organization about a meritocracy.”
Fogarty, 26, was the team’s third-round pick (No. 72 overall) in 2011 before going on to play four years at Notre Dame. The 6-foot-3, 208-pound winger turned pro in 2015 and had managed 11 previous NHL games, all with the Rangers, including 10 this past season. In 32 games with the surging Wolf Pack this year, Fogarty was tied for the team lead with 23 points and second with nine goals.
He played on a line with Micheal Haley and Greg McKegg, and got only one third-period shift. Haley got the same — but managed 3:25 of ice — while McKegg saw a few more shifts with other lines and played 7:44 total.
Brendan Smith was a healthy scratch for the first time this season, as Quinn said he had seen “a little bit of a slippage in his play” of the defenseman-turned-winger. He was replaced by Michael Haley, who had been scratched in eight of the past 11.
Brett Howden stayed on the wing for the fourth straight game, this time on the left side of a line with Filip Chytil and Kaapo Kakko. Howden scored his fifth goal of the season to open the scoring at 1:41 of the first period.
After the Rangers had gone 5-for-5 on the penalty kill against the Hurricanes, they allowed a power-play goal to William Nylander on the Leafs’ first man-advantage of the game at 4:21 of the first. Defenseman Adam Fox, usually not on the penalty kill, was on the ice for the goal as Jacob Trouba was in the box for high-sticking.
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