It has been five games since Adam Fox was placed on long-term injured reserve with a left shoulder injury sustained during the third period of the Tampa Bay Lightning game on November 29th. The Rangers have moderately held the defensive fort at even strength in his absence.
Vladislav Gavrikov and Braden Schneider have been a solid top defensive pair, and the second and third pairs have admirably stepped into their elevated roles and minutes on the blue line.
But that’s where the buck stops when it comes to replacing Adam Fox.
Fox is one of the best power‑play quarterbacks in the NHL. His decision‑making and elusiveness on the man advantage are elite. He can seamlessly carry the puck into the zone and thread tight‑window passes. The strongest part of Fox’s game is his innate ability to find seams in the opposing defense and deliver the crisp passes that generate sustained offensive‑zone threats. When you lose that, you lose the engine of your power play.
In response, Mike Sullivan deployed a five‑forward power‑play unit to replace Fox’s offensive prowess at the point, and that simply has not worked. He beta‑tested this new model for four games and one period of last night’s Rangers‑Blackhawks matchup before finally abandoning the ill‑fated plan.
He specifically ditched the idea after Louis Crevier of the Chicago Blackhawks completely exposed its flaws in the second period, patiently waiting and taking an open‑ice pass into a vacated defensive assignment to score an uncontested shorthanded goal.
Sullivan had seen enough. He turned to young, up‑and‑coming defenseman Scott Morrow — who has suddenly become the Rangers beat writers’ darling — to man the point on the power play. It didn’t work, at least not on the two remaining power plays the Rangers received in this game.
The Rangers are now 0‑for‑11 on the power play in the five games since Fox has been out of the lineup. They can’t continue like this until he returns after the Christmas break. These December games cannot be taken for granted. Especially with the condensed schedule due to the Winter Olympics, there will be more games in this stretch than in most months of the regular season.
So, what’s a coach to do?
The solution is simple: simplify the power play until Fox returns. Commit to a low‑risk dump‑and‑chase approach and put Vladislav Gavrikov or Carson Soucy in that prime defenseman spot. Gavrikov has been playing like a man on a mission this season. Why not reward him with this opportunity? He can be a steadying force on the back end and has a knack for scoring timely goals.
And why not Carson Soucy? He’s a north‑south defenseman who can make a strong first pass and won’t hesitate to shoot. Scott Morrow has upside, no doubt, but is this really the time and place for him to become the de facto No. 1 power‑play quarterback? I think not.
The Rangers’ problem on the power play is indecisiveness, which allows penalty killers to pounce, clear the zone, or even keep the puck deep in the Rangers’ end during their own man advantage.
The Rangers need to make this adjustment quickly. They’re about to play ten more games before the end of the calendar year, and not a single point should be squandered if they have real aspirations of making the playoffs.