Despite loss, Rangers defenseman Adam Fox enjoyed first taste of long playoff game
Adam Fox #23 of the Rangers celebrates his first period power play goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game One of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, May 3, 2022 in New York City. Credit: Jim McIsaac
GREENBURGH, N.Y. – Adam Fox and K’Andre Miller led the Rangers in ice time in their 4-3 triple-overtime loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins Tuesday, with both defensemen playing a whopping 44 minutes and 28 seconds. It was the third-most playing time for any Rangers player, behind the record 53:17 played by Ryan McDonagh in a triple-OT win over Washington in 2012 and the 49:34 played by Marc Staal in that same game.
For Fox, who scored the Rangers’ first goal of the playoffs, it was the most he’s ever played in a game. But he said apart from the outcome, he enjoyed the experience.
“You watch the playoffs all those years, you see the long games, and I think it was it was fun to be a part of,’’ Fox said Wednesday. “Great atmosphere, (and) it was a good game. And I obviously would have liked a bit different result, but it was fun to be a part of.’’
The Jericho native, who played as a rookie in the 2020 postseason in the Toronto bubble, said he considered Tuesday to be his first true NHL playoff game. The 2020 qualifying series, which saw the Rangers get swept in a best-of-five by Carolina, was played in an arena with no fans, a lot different from the raucous Garden crowd on Tuesday. He admitted having “a little bit of the butterflies’’ before the game, but chalked it up to “excitement.’’
Fox lost his defense partner, Ryan Lindgren, to injury for most of the third period and again for the third overtime. So he had play with several different partners late in the game. That took some adjusting, he admitted.
“I'm so comfortable playing with (Lindgren), but, you know, we’ve got five other good defenseman and now you’ve got to be comfortable playing with everyone,’’ he said.
Coach Gerard Gallant, asked about Lindgren’s status, said the rugged defenseman is “banged up a little bit, but you know what, he'll be there tomorrow (for Game 2), I'm sure.’’
Pens call up goalie
Pittsburgh, which lost starting goaltender Casey DeSmith to an injury with 10:42 remaining in the second overtime, called up goaltender Alex D’Orio from its Wilkes-Barre/Scranton farm team. D’Orio, 23, split the season between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL and Wheeling of the ECHL. The Penguins’ No. 1 goaltender, Tristan Jarry, remains out with a lower-body injury, believed to be a broken foot.
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.
