Jersey’s Hall socks defenseman Fox

It was hard to call it a dirty hit, but it surely hurt.

Devils star Taylor Hall absolutely bulldozed Rangers defenseman Adam Fox 6:49 into the second period during New Jersey’s 5-2 win Thursday night in Newark. Hall’s elbow got up into Fox’s face, leaving the young blueliner dazed and eventually getting him called into concussion protocol.

He missed about seven minutes of game time before returning, while Hall — who seemed to have a bug up his rear end all night — was only called for a two-minute elbowing minor (also adding a coinciding roughing penalty with Brady Skjei in the skirmish that followed the collision).

“I saw him coming when I turned, tried to brace for a little,” said Fox, who was behind his net trying to rim the puck up the boards. “He kind of got to my head, but it is what it is. I was able to get back out.”

Coach David Quinn said he thought the hit was a five-minute major, but didn’t get any explanation of why it was called a minor.

“There might be four other guys [the officials] that might be able to shed more light on that than me,” Quinn said. ➤ Quinn scratched Brendan Lemieux, and it seemed like the gritty winger was healthy after he had battled the flu earlier in the week.

“Just a coach’s decision,” Quinn said.

➤ Goalie Alexandar Georgiev got his second start of the season and was sharp in making 33 saves on 37 shots.

“I felt OK,” said Georgiev, whose first start came on Oct. 5 in Ottawa. “I felt in the game.”

Georgiev got a little unlucky with a Blake Coleman shot that hit his mask and then went through his legs to tie the game, 1-1, at 12:58 of the first period.

“Unlucky bounce,” Georgiev said.

The 23-year-old was also beat in a roof-shot from in close on the power play by Kyle Palmieri early in the second period. Georgiev got another tough bounce on a redirection off Miles Wood later in the second and was finally beaten by Nikita Gusev on a low shot at 12:21 of the third.