A pair of lower body injuries will cost the New York Rangers their top blue liner and starting goaltender as Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin will each miss time moving forward.
Fox has been placed on long term injured reserve, meaning he will miss a minimum of 10 games and 24 days, sidelining him through at least Jan 31st. It’s unclear exactly when the injury occurred, as the 27 year old played 23:30 in his team’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Utah Mammoth on Monday.
The American skater missed 14 games earlier this season with an upper body injury, but the club has confirmed the two are not related. Fox has registered 4 goals and 24 assists on the year across 30 games played.
Meanwhile, Shesterkin has been placed on injured reserve after going down with what appeared to be a left leg injury in Monday’s loss as well. The netminder had to be helped off the ice and down the tunnel to the dressing room at the 13:00 mark of the 1st period.
Currently leading all NHL goalies with 34 appearances on the year, Shesterkin is 17-12-4 with a 2.45 GAA and a .913 SV%. With 13 games to go before the Olympic break, it’s unclear whether the 30 year old will be able to return before the NHL season is paused, or whether the club will opt to play it safe with their franchise goaltender and keep him out until play resume after the Winter Games.
Up next for the Rangers is a 7pm ET showdown against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night.
Photo: David. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.