Despite being a full participant in practice since the Olympic break ended, Adam Edstrom is still not cleared for game action.
His continued scratching, however, is more “performance-based,” head coach Mike Sullivan said.
The intention is to get Edstrom’s conditioning up to speed more than anything else, after the 25-year-old was sidelined for an extended period with a lower-body injury.
Edstrom is considered a full go in practice, but Sullivan is looking for him to get more team practice.
Monday night’s matchup with the Blue Jackets counted as the 33rd consecutive game Edstrom has missed.
“He hasn’t played in a long time,” Sullivan said of Edstrom before the Rangers fell 5-4 in overtime to the Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden. “From a health standpoint, he’s cleared to play [in practice]. It’s more about just conditioning, getting his timing back. Getting in team settings, group settings, puck battles, things of that nature.”
This is just the latest lower-body injury Edstrom has suffered since making his NHL debut in December 2023.
His 2024-25 season was ended prematurely by a lower-body injury he sustained last February, which ultimately required surgery and sidelined him for the remaining 31 games.
The Post reported when the second lower-body injury occurred that the two were not related.
Additionally, Matt Rempe missed his third straight game while he remains on IR and recovers from a second procedure on his thumb.
Goalie Igor Shesterkin got his 37th start of the season Monday night against Columbus.
He turned aside 23 of the 28 shots he faced in his sixth OT loss of the season.
Captain J.T. Miller nearly got the Rangers on the board with a goal on the power play early in the second period Monday night.
A goaltender interference challenge, however, overturned the Rangers goal.
Video review determined Alexis Lafrenière made contact with the head of Columbus goalie Elvis Merzlikins.
“I was looking at the skate, I thought after the head contact, I thought he had the ability to recover,” Sullivan said. “But, obviously, they didn’t. And that’s where these things are gray.”
The Rangers hosted Women’s Empowerment Night at MSG on Monday.
Prior to the game, the organization hosted Garden of Dreams partners, WHEDco and Women in Need (DHS), for a pregame panel in the Theater Lobby.
After the women of MSG discussed their careers, the group made bracelets together.
The Junior Rangers Girls Hockey League later took the ice with the PWHL’s New York Sirens.
The Rangers also presented a $10,000 donation to the Women’s Sports Foundation, whose mission is to “enable girls and women to reach their potential in sport and life.”
The Rangers are scheduled to be off Tuesday before returning to the ice for practice in Tarrytown on Wednesday.
