Rangers defenseman Adam Fox off to strong start

EDMONTON, Alberta — In the Rangers’ last three games before Thursday night, defenseman Adam Fox, who leads the team in average ice time with more than 24 minutes per game, played 47, 0 and 28 seconds when the Blueshirts were on the penalty kill.

During the preseason, coach Mike Sullivan had talked about using more players on special teams as a way to help reduce the load on the team’s top players, who generally play in all situations. And at Thursday’s morning skate, as the Rangers prepared to face the Edmonton Oilers        in the third game of their Western Canada swing, Sullivan said that’s exactly what’s been happening with Fox and his reduced time on the penalty kill.

“We’re trying to manage the workload of some of these guys, and we’re trying to utilize them as best we can in situations where they can play to their strengths and help us have success,’’ Sullivan said. “We feel like with the way the makeup of our defense corps is, we have a number of pretty solid defending defensemen. Our hope is we can take Foxy out of some of those [penalty-killing] situations so that we can utilize him on the offensive side a little bit more.’’

Which is fine with Fox.

“Yeah, definitely,’’ the Jericho native told Newsday on Thursday. “I think managing time’s an important factor, but I think [it’s also about the] flow of the game sometimes. You know, [because of] special teams, some guys don’t get on the ice for a bit. I think it’s important to utilize all the ‘D’ in that sense. [And] I think when you’re playing higher minutes, it’s good to have your energy in the right places.’’

Whatever the coaching staff is doing with regard to systems, style of play and load management seems to be working for Fox, who is off to a strong start.

Through the first 11 games, entering Thursday, he  led the Rangers in scoring   with nine points (three goals, six assists), and the underlying numbers also have been good.

When Fox and his regular partner, Vladislav Gavrikov, have been on the ice in five-on-five situations, the Rangers have outshot their opponents 75-65 and have had more scoring chances (89-59) and more high-danger chances (43-23). Given that the pair often has been matched against the opposition’s top players, the numbers are even more impressive.

“Yeah, I feel good,’’ Fox said. “I’ve been trying to defend first and get off of that. I think I’ve been getting more and more comfortable with Vlad, and some of those sometimes tougher matchups at home, trying to just focus on the defensive side, and limit some of the other team’s chances, and then focus on the offense from after that.’’

Sullivan has been pleased with what he’s seen from Fox.

“I think he’s playing real well,’’ he said. “I think he’s defending hard. I think there’s a physicality to his game. He’s not an overly big guy [5-11, 185], but he’s a competitive guy, and he’s strong on the puck — he’s ‘hockey strong.’ And so he’s winning puck battles down low. He’s defending hard.

“I think his offensive ability speaks for itself, just with his vision, his ability to see the ice, find the open man. I think he’s had a strong start.’’

Fox’s numbers would be even better if the Rangers’ power play had been clicking more than it has. It has moved the puck around well at times and created plenty of golden chances to score, but because of missed shots or exceptional goaltending or bad fortune, it hasn’t produced many goals.

Going into Thursday, the Rangers’ power play ranked 27th in the league, connecting 14.3% of the time (four goals in 28 opportunities).

“Obviously, we’d like better results,’’ Fox said. “And we have to maybe do a better job of not getting frustrated as games go along, and we get more chances, and we didn’t score on the first one. But we’ve missed some looks that typically go in; we scored on some that maybe we’re lucky to get a bounce. But we think that’s kind of the power plays, how they go.

“I think the most important thing for us is not getting frustrated and to keep getting those looks. And I like our chances to eventually start scoring on them.’’

Notes & quotes: Igor Shesterkin was  back in goal.  He entered with a 2-4-2 record, a 2.25 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage . . . The lineup was unchanged from Tuesday, meaning D Matthew Robertson, an Edmonton native, was scratched along with F Brennan Othmann . . . Thursday was Artemi Panarin's 34th birthday.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

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.