Rangers’ Adam Edstrom ‘playing freer’ following one-game healthy scratch

Rangers’ Adam Edstrom ‘playing freer’ following one-game healthy scratch

Rangers’ Adam Edstrom ‘playing freer’ following one-game healthy scratch

Rangers’ Adam Edstrom ‘playing freer’ following one-game healthy scratch

Adam Edstrom has been in and out of the Rangers’ lineup of late.

The big-bodied fourth liner was dealing with some small issues at first, then head coach Mike Sullivan decided to make him a healthy scratch due to his up-and-down play.

At the time, Sullivan and the coaching staff told Edstrom they wanted him to work on the little things.

He did just that instead of letting his confidence waver, and thus far he’s looked much more like the fourth line presence the Blueshirts saw prior to his season-ending injury last year.

Edstrom scored his first goal of the season on Thursday night in Colorado.

The 25-year-old then found the back of the net again on Monday night, firing home a beautiful backhand feed from defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov in front of the net.

That now gives him two goals and a +3 rating over his last three games.

“It feels good,” Edstrom said. “It’s good to be back playing and I feel like my confidence is a little bit higher out there now, so I’m playing a little freer, so it feels good.”

Edstrom’s tally wasn’t just a big one for him, it was also a huge one for the team as it ended up going down as the game-winner in a 3-2 victory over the Blues.

The two points were desperately needed coming off a winless West Coast swing.

“We needed that a lot,” Edstrom said. “We were not happy with how we played on the road trip at all so to get back home and get a win here in front of our fans is huge for us.”

Edstrom and the Blueshirts will look to build off this one heading into a big divisional matchup with the Hurricanes.