The NHL Prospect Tournament at Traverse City continued on Saturday with the New York Rangers taking on the Dallas Stars. Adam Fox was the star of the game in a 7-4 win.
For the second straight game, the New York Rangers prospects were without Kaapo Kakko, but Adam Fox and Vitali Kravtsov made up for it in a big way. Fox led the team with five points on two goals and three assists while Kravtsov chipped in with three assists. It was a much better effort for the baby Rangers in their second game of the tournament.
The takeaway from this game was that Adam Fox has the potential to be something really special. His five points were fabulous, but his overall play was what stood out. He controlled the offense and showed an uncanny ability to jump into the play. It was a spectacular display of what he had shown in his career at Harvard. Based on tonight’s effort, any thoughts that he will need time to get seasoning in Hartford are in doubt.
The starting five was the same forward line and defensive pair from the first game against Columbus. Karl Henriksson centered Kravtsov and Lewis Zerter-Gossage and the first blueline pair was Adam Fox and Matthew Robertson.
Adam Huska was in net, replacing Igor Shesterkin.
First Period
The Rangers got off to a slow start when Dallas took the lead at the 7:42 mark of the first period when Swedish defense prospect Emil Djuse’s point shot eluded Huska.
About four minutes later, at 11:31, the Rangers got it right back when Karl Henriksson scored on a tip-in of a point shot by Adam Fox. Vitali Kravtsov got the secondary assist, marking these the first Ranger points for both of these highly regarded prospects.
1️⃣-1️⃣, c/o Karl. pic.twitter.com/EEUlu0VSk0
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 7, 2019
The first period ended with the team tied 1-1 with Dallas holding an 8-6 shots advantage.
Second Period
The Rangers got off to a quick start in the second period. After Dallas took a holding the stick penalty, the Rangers struck quickly with Yegor Rykov notching the power play goal at the 1:28 mark, just 11 seconds into the power play. He scored off the rebound of a Kravtsov shot and Fox got the secondary assist.
⬇️Rykov’s first as a #NYR ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/XeFH85wbdF
⬇️Rykov’s first as a #NYR ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/XeFH85wbdF
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) September 8, 2019
The Henriksson-Kravtsov-Zerter-Gossage line started the power play and Rykov replace Matthew Robertson on the man advantage, paired with Fox.
Two minute later, at the 3:30 mark, Adam Fox scored his first goal,giving him points in all three Ranger goals. He got the assist from Nick Jones.
In the meantime, Huska was standing tall in goal, stopping one Dallas three on one when Kravtsov tried an ill-advised pinch.
The Blueshirts 3-1 lead was short lived as Dallas got within a goal when Joel Kiviranta scored after a nice passing play in the offensive zone. Kiviranta scored again with seven minutes left in the period to tie the game. It was a power play goal, with Jake Elmer sitting out a slashing penalty.
The second period ended with the teams tied 3-3 and the Rangers on a power play. Dallas outshot the Rangers again, 11 to nine.
Third Period
The third period started with the Rangers on the power play. Coach Kris Knoblauch again sent out the Henriksson line along with Fox and Rykov on the points. Just 1:21 into the period, Rykov crashed into the boards and appeared to hurt his leg. He was prone on the ice for a while and left with some assistance. He didn’t return.
Just after the power play ended, Anthony Salinitri scored at the 2:11 mark, finishing on a very nice rush by Matthew Robertson to give the Rangers a 4-3 lead. At 4:45, Adam Fox added his second goal giving the Blueshirts a 5-3 lead.
Nick Jones was stopped on a breakaway and it looked like that would be costly when Dallas scored again, making it a one goal 5-4 game with 5:22 left in the period.
16 second late the Rangers scored again to make it a 6-4 game. Ryan Dmowski scored from the slot after taking the pass from Kravtsov. The on-ice microphone caught Dmowski as he neared the Ranger bench saying “that was a sick pass.” It was a great look at what Kravtsov can do as a playmaker.
With a little over two minutes left int he game Dallas pulled their goaltender and Dmowski scored again on an assist from Fox. That wrapped up the scoring the Rangers skated off the ice with a 7-4 win.
Final shots on goal were in Dallas’ favor, 28-23. Both teams scored one power play goal.