Adam Edstrom returned to the Rangers lineup for the first time in more than three months.
The Blueshirts activated the 6-foot-7 forward off injured reserve ahead of Thursday’s game against the Maple Leafs at Madison Square Garden.
In his first game since suffering a lower-body injury in practice in early December, Edstrom skated on the fourth line next to Jaroslav Chmelar and Juuso Parssinen.
“So I’ve been going through some struggles,” Edstrom said after the Rangers won 6-2. “Just kind of something that blew up again in practice, so it was something that they just thought I should take care of now instead of keep on playing through it. It’s always tough to miss time, but I feel way better now.”
This was Edstrom’s second long-term injury in the span of 10 months.
He sustained a different lower-body injury last February, which required surgery to repair and knocked him out for the remainder of the 2024-25 campaign.
After earning a spot out of training camp this season, Edstrom was scratched with “bumps and bruises” for a couple of games in early November.
On Nov. 18, however, the 25-year-old served as a healthy scratch.
Whatever sidelined him on Nov. 7 and 8 continued to nag him and ultimately forced the Rangers to put him on long-term injured reserve in mid-December.
Edstrom went on to miss 33 consecutive games.
The big-bodied Swede recorded a team-low 8:24 of ice time in the Rangers first regulation win on home ice since Nov. 24.
“At the start, you can kind of tell that you missed some time,” Edstrom said. “You always get a chance to come back in practice, but it’s always a little different coming out there in a game situation. I feel like I worked my way into the game, kind of happy to get the first one out of the way and now I can just look forward.”
Parssinen appeared in his first NHL game since Nov. 22.
After dealing with a long-term hand injury for a majority of his season with AHL Hartford, Parssinen skated in his 15th NHL contest of the season.
Thursday night was also Chmelar’s first game since Dec. 16 and the seventh NHL game of his career.
Goalie Igor Shesterkin got the nod Thursday night, marking his 38th start of the season.
After returning out of the Olympic break from a 13-game injury-related absence, he has backstopped the Blueshirts to a four-game point streak (2-0-2).
On Thursday, Shesterkin stopped 29 of the 31 shots he faced.
At 7 p.m. April 5, tune into ESPN+, Disney+, Disney Channel or Disney XD to watch the Rangers and Capitals skate alongside Joy and Sadness in the Inside Out Classic, a real-time animated alternative broadcast featuring characters from the award-winning Pixar films.
Watch as “Inside Out” characters compete with animated versions of the NHL players, who will be virtually transported to Hockey Island inside the mind of the film’s main character, Riley.
