The New York Rangers are rolling at Madison Square Garden, and Monday night brought another strong sign that home ice is becoming a real advantage. New York handled the visiting Anaheim Ducks 5-2, a sharp turnaround after a rough two-game road trip that included a 7-1 blowout loss to the New Jersey Devils and a 1-0 overtime defeat to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The big difference for the Rangers has been simple: at home, the offense is showing up. On the road, it has been a struggle early on. At MSG, New York has looked completely different, improving to 6-0-0 in its own building this season.
Adam Fox was a major part of that again. The veteran right-shot defenseman kept the puck moving all night, and in the second period he picked up the secondary assist on J.T. Miller’s power-play goal, with Alexis Lafreniere earning the primary assist.
That helper pushed Fox to 10 assists on the season, with three of them coming on the power play. Per NHL.com, the assist also extended his home point streak to six games, tied for the longest active run in the league, and all eight of those points have come as assists.
Zoom out a little farther, and the numbers get even more eye-catching. Fox has now posted a point in 13 straight games at Madison Square Garden dating back to last season. In that stretch, he has four goals and 17 assists for an average of 1.62 points per game.
It’s the longest home point streak of his career, and there’s more history attached to it. With the assist on Miller’s goal, Fox became the fourth defenseman in franchise history to reach double-digit assists in fewer than 12 games on multiple occasions.
He did it before, too. In the 2021-22 season, Fox reached 10 assists in just 11 games.
That kind of production is exactly what the Rangers need from one of their top players. When Fox is healthy, he has been one of the most productive defensemen in the NHL, and early this season he’s keeping that standard intact.
He is currently on pace for at least 76 assists, which would put him in position for a new career high if he stays on the ice. Even with two extra regular-season games, he is still tracking to top the 63 assists he had in 2021-22, the other season in which he reached 10 assists in 12 games or fewer.
In Other News...
Rangers Suddenly Have A Tye Kartye Decision They Didn't Expect
Tye Kartye arrived in New York as a waiver claim from Seattle, the kind of low-risk pickup teams make to deepen a roster and see if a hard-working winger can carve out a niche. Instead, the undrafted left winger has quickly turned into much more than depth, earning trust with the Rangers for the way he competes, handles his defensive responsibilities and helps steady the kind of line that can tilt a game.
What makes the situation interesting is how quickly Kartye has moved from hopeful addition to someone the staff has to keep in a meaningful role. His fit with the clubs top offensive players has already changed the conversation around what the Rangers thought they were getting, and now the bigger question is whether this early stretch is a real sign of staying power or simply the latest surprise in a season that is still taking shape. [Read more 🡒]
Sean Durzi Solves One Rangers Need While Exposing Another
Sean Durzi has already given the Rangers what they hoped to get when they brought him in over the summer: a steadier blue line and a presence that seems to fit naturally in the room. The comparison to Vincent Trocheck is obvious enough for anyone around the team. Both are similar in build, both play with a similar edge, and both come with the kind of workmanlike reputation that tends to travel well in New York. Durzi has also brought a little of the same personality and energy that made Trocheck so useful to the Rangers beyond the stat sheet.
What the move has also done, though, is shine a brighter light on the other side of the ledger. Trochecks departure left a hole down the middle, and the Rangers are feeling the effects in their center depth as the season goes along. Durzis past injury history is part of the broader picture too, because the Rangers know the upside is real but the margin for error is thin when a player has had to battle through health issues before. [Read more 🡒]
Rangers Hot Start Still Hasnt Solved One Bigger Problem
The Rangers strong start has done plenty to build optimism in New York, but it has not yet changed the way star players view the organization when bigger decisions come up. Dylan Larkin has reportedly widened his trade wishlist from three teams to 10, and the club on Broadway still is not on it, a reminder that early-season momentum does not automatically make a team a destination for elite talent.
The latest list apparently does include several familiar Eastern Conference names, with the Hurricanes, Devils and Capitals among the teams Larkin is open to. For the Rangers, that leaves a familiar kind of frustration: they can look like a contender on the ice and still find themselves on the outside when the leagues top names start narrowing their options. [Read more 🡒]