Out of the rubble of Tuesday’s dispiriting 7-3 defeat to the Maple Leafs at the Garden, Adam Fox’s best performance since returning on Nov. 29 from a 10-game absence was the hidden nugget.
And if the perennial Norris Trophy contender is finding his A-game following an initial six-game period of reindoctrination, this would be a pretty good time for it with the Blueshirts defense in a particular state of flux given K’Andre Miller’s uncertain status added onto the club’s recent decline heading into Friday’s Garden meeting with Anaheim.
“For the first time missing that span of games, I kind of just wanted to come back and almost blend in, get reacquainted with making reads and not ruin a rhythm that’s going on,” No. 23 told The Post. “The other night I felt that I was able to get back into the reads and go at the right times and play more instinctively as opposed to playing it safe and not being the one to pinch at the wrong time or make that mistake.
“You don’t want to be that guy.”
But of course, alternate meaning, the Rangers need Fox to be that guy.
They need Fox to be that guy who won the Norris in his 2020-21 sophomore season, placed runner-up last season and was on pace to contend for the designation as the NHL’s best defenseman before he went down with the leg-on-leg hit from Sebastian Aho on Nov. 2 in the year’s 10th game.
The Rangers were scrambly, disconnected and not especially difficult to play against on Tuesday, but Fox — paired with trusty companion Ryan Lindgren — dominated his matchup against the up-tempo, attack-oriented Noah Gregor-Auston Matthews-William Nylander line.
Used as a matchup tandem given Miller’s absence from the lineup, the Fox-Lindgren pair had a 14-2 edge in shot attempts (87.5 percent), an 8-0 edge in shots, a 1-0 goal differential, an 11-2 advantage in scoring chances and an 8-1 edge in high-danger chances in 13:06 of five-on-five play.
Remarkably, somehow, the Blake Wheeler score from the left circle at 5:42 of the first period that at the time brought the club within 2-1 marked only the second goal in 210:30 all season for which the Fox-Lindgren pair has been on the ice. They’ve been on together for four goals against.
“We’re down the other night after the first period, we’ve talked about that, but that’s when we need to push and creative players need to push and do their thing — and that’s when I saw the offensive instincts get better and better,” said head coach Peter Laviolette, who was uncertain whether Miller would be available on Friday. “So Adam is coming back and hopefully just keeps building off of that, his timing to do things, his speed. …
“He sees the game incredibly. His ability to find the plays or make the plays are at an elite level. So I hope that he can push from that last game. I’ve seen it get better and I saw it get better inside of the [Toronto] game.”
Erik Gustafsson skated in Miller’s reserved spot on Jacob Trouba’s left at practice just as he did in Tuesday’s match, where the tandem essentially had a saw-off with their matchup against the Leafs.
Zac Jones and Braden Schneider formed the third pair on Thursday, just as on Tuesday and just as for the 11 games earlier, including the 10 in which Fox was sidelined, and Gustafsson — generally Schneider’s third-pair partner — moved up to skate with Lindgren.
The Jones-Schneider duo was on for two goals against (none for) in 10:39 against the Maple Leafs despite decent peripheral numbers.
That has been the story of the season, though, for the two lads.
Despite a reasonable expected goals (xGF) percentage of 48.03 and reasonable scoring chance (49.67) and high-danger chance (47.76) differentials, the Jones-Schneider pair has bled goals, on for seven for and 14 against in 133:10.
Only seven of the NHL’s 100 tandems with at least 125 minutes at five-on-five have a poorer goal differential than the pair’s 33.3 percent (stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick).
Laviolette, however, believes some of that is just happenstance and/or bad luck striking against the 22-year-old Schneider and 23-year-old Jones, who had been scratched for six straight prior to the Leafs match.
“I think at times there are some tough bounces for them,” Laviolette said, first recounting circumstances for Tuesday’s minus-two that might have been out of the pair’s control. “I think they move the puck well, I think they’re a good pair and I think Jonesy skates pretty well, moves the puck pretty well and does some good things for us even after he’s been off for a while.“I still think they’re a good pair for us.”
“Could they be better on some? Sure, like any players on our team. I, too, would like to see that switch where they’re on for more goals for than against.”