Fox, Kreider headed to Vegas for All-Star Game
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Adam Fox, who was denied the opportunity to flout his stuff for Team USA at the Beijing Olympics, will take his talents to Las Vegas for the AllStar Game, at which the Rangers star will follow P.K. Subban as only the second defenseman in NHL history to play in his first midseason extravaganza after having won the Norris Trophy.
Fox last year became the second defenseman ever, and first since Bobby Orr in 1967-68, to win the Norris in his second NHL season. Subban, now with the Devils, won the award with the Canadiens in his third season (2012-13), three years before making his first appearance in the NHL All-Star Game.
Chris Kreider, who scored twice in the 3-0 win Thursday over the Sharks, will join Fox in representing the Rangers on the 11-player Metropolitan Division squad, which will compete on Feb. 5 in the three-on-three tournament competition. The Islanders’ Adam Pelech and the Devils’ Jack Hughes also will compete for the team that will be coached by the Hurricanes’ Rod Brind’Amour and captained by the Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin.
This will mark the second All-Star experience for Kreider, who stepped in as an injury replacement for Artemi Panarin in 2020. Kreider entered Thursday tied for sixth in the NHL with 21 goals and second with 12 power-play goals. Fox was third among defensemen with 36 points (5-31) and tied for third with 31 assists.
Igor Shesterkin (154-2/2.09/.936) had the credentials to merit a spot. Since every team must be represented by at least one player, three would have amounted to one too many Rangers. Frederik Andersen and Tristan Jarry are the Metro’s goaltenders.
Mika Zibanejad is the Blueshirts’ nominee to be added as “last player in.” Fan voting for a final addition to each divisional squad will be conducted through Jan. 17 on NHL.com and on the NHL app.
➤ Shesterkin had not had a full practice since Jan. 5, had not played since Jan. 2 and was just cleared from COVID-19 protocol Thursday morning after being sidelined for three games over the past week.
Yet he got the starting assignment, and the 37-save shutout, Thursday against the Sharks while Alexandar Georgiev backed up and Keith Kinkaid returned to the taxi squad.
Shesterkin had started only three of the Rangers’ previous 15 games since suffering a groin injury during the third period of a 1-0 victory over the Sharks at the Garden on Dec. 3. The 26year-old Russian missed eight games rehabbing, returned for the first of three straight starts on Dec. 29 and backed up one game before testing positive last week.
“I don’t think he gets enough attention,” acting coach Kris Knoblauch said of Shesterkin, who apparently got onto the ice once back at home after his positive result was announced on Jan. 6. “In New York he does, but around the NHL when you talk about the elite goalies in the league, maybe he gets mentioned once in a while but he should be mentioned in that conversation all the time.”
Georgiev, coming off a run of four straight starts for the first time in his NHL career, recorded a 5-4-1 record with a .931 save percentage and 2.06 goals-against average in 10 starts and 11 appearances since Shesterkin first was sidelined early last month.
➤ Alexis Lafreniere, Ryan Reaves, Julien Gauthier and Barclay Goodrow were in COVID protocol. Dryden Hunt joined the team for the morning skate, but remained on injured reserve with the upper-body injury he sustained at Vegas on Jan. 6.