Vladislav Gavrikov sends clear message to Rangers amid Adam Fox injury

The New York Rangers persevered through their first game after losing Adam Fox to a long-term injury, defeating one of the league’s hottest teams, the Dallas Stars. While the overtime win was a good confidence-builder with one of their best players missing, Vladislav Gavrikov and the Rangers realize that the work is only just beginning.

“It’s going to be probably on all of us, I would say. Every single one of the D got to make a step in the game,” Gavrikov told reporters after the game. “Obviously, Foxy is big for our team, playing big minutes offensively, on the power play. So it’s hard to replace him, but we got to try and [that] responsibility [falls] on all of us.”

The Rangers will have to rely on the defense as a whole to make up for Fox’s injury. One of the most significant places New York will miss Fox is on offense, an area where head coach Mike Sullivan believes Gavrikov can be an unsung hero.

Rangers fans weren’t sure what to think about their season outlook when Fox went down. They are already sitting among the worst teams in the Eastern Conference, and losing their top defensemen isn’t a recipe for digging out of that mess. However, the win over the Stars puts them just one point behind the rival New York Islanders, who sit in a three-way tie with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers for the two wild-card spots.

The conference is a jumbled mess, with no team sitting more than six points out of the playoff picture. Vladislav Gavrikov and the Rangers hope they can tread water long enough in the competitive conference for Fox to return and make a late-season playoff push.

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