Artemi Panarin, Adam Fox join Igor Shesterkin on All-Star team
Rangers defenseman Adam Fox celebrates his game winning goal against the Stars with left wing Artemi Panarin and center Mika Zibanejad during overtime at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. Credit: Brad Penner
The NHL, which already had announced the first 32 All-Stars on Jan. 5, announced the rest of the All-Star rosters Thursday, and the Rangers grabbed two of the three remaining spots on the Metropolitan Division squad.
Artemi Panarin and defenseman Adam Fox will be joining goalie Igor Shesterkin on the Metropolitan Division team for the All-Star Weekend in Sunrise, Florida, Feb. 3-4.
The league chose one player from each team to make up the first eight players on the roster for each of the league’s four divisions, with three remaining players — one goalie and two skaters — to be selected by a fan vote.
Four Rangers — Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, Panarin and Fox — were promoted by the team for the fan vote, which concluded Tuesday.
“[Fox has] been one of our top players, obviously, and plays great every night, and he brings that offense and he plays 27, 28 minutes a night for us, so he’s been a star player for us,’’ Gerard Gallant said before the game.
Panarin is the Rangers’ leading scorer with 47 points on 11 goals and 36 assists.
Fox, who was supposed to go to the All-Star Game last season but missed it because of an injury, is third on the team in points with 45 on nine goals and 36 assists.
Blue notes
With Kreider returning to the lineup after missing the last three games, forward Sammy Blais was scratched to make room. Defenseman Libor Hajek was the other scratch . . . Right wing Julien Gauthier, who skated in a non-contact jersey at practice Wednesday, is eligible to come off the injured list Friday . . . During the game, the Rangers honored Ryan Canedo, a registered nurse at South Oaks Hospital in Amityville. Canedo is a veteran of the Marines who served in the Iraq War.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
