Rangers' Fox injured after taking knee-on-knee hit from Canes' Aho
New York Rangers defenseman Adam Fox was unable to return to Thursday's 2-1 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes due to a lower-body ailment.
Fox was injured after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho in the first period. The blue-liner was slow to get up but got to his feet under his own power. No penalty was called on the play.
Sebastian Aho sticks his leg out on Adam Fox. No call on the play. #NYR pic.twitter.com/36ucyKm7zt
— David 🏒 (@DaveyUpper) November 2, 2023
Fox stayed on the ice to finish his shift and took another brief shift soon after, but he ultimately departed with just over five minutes remaining in the frame.
He registered one shot in six minutes of ice time before exiting.
The 25-year-old entered Thursday's action tied for the scoring lead among all blue-liners with 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in nine games. Fox is also New York's most important minute-muncher, averaging 22:44 per contest.
Rangers captain Jacob Trouba came to his teammate's defense and challenged Aho after the hit, but the Canes forward wasn't willing to answer the bell.
"I gotta fight every time I do something, so I figured (Aho) should probably have to answer for it too," Trouba told reporters postgame. "But he didn't feel that way."
Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette said he "didn't like the hit" on Fox.
The Rangers also lost Filip Chytil to an upper-body injury against the Hurricanes.
Laviolette said after the game that he didn't have an update on Fox or Chytil, adding that they'd be evaluated on Friday, according to NHL.com's Dan Rosen.
Fox won the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman in 2021 and was named a finalist for the hardware last season.