Rangers rookie Adam Edstrom has been steady presence all season long

LAS VEGAS — Peter Laviolette couldn’t stifle a laugh when asked if beating the Golden Knights, the No. 3 team in the NHL standings, and winning consecutive games for the first time since mid-November signaled a turnaround for the previously struggling Rangers.

“It’s two wins,’’ he said. “But I do think that the guys, we’re playing a better brand of hockey right now.’’

The Rangers, who reached NHL .500 with their 2-1 victory over Vegas on Saturday night, won a second game in a row for the first time since they won three straight from Nov. 14-19. They are 4-1-1 in 2025 and continue their three-game road trip with games Tuesday in Denver and Thursday in Salt Lake City.

Then they have four games against teams they are battling for a wild-card spot — Columbus, Montreal, Ottawa and Philadelphia.

If the Rangers can build on wins over Vegas and the Devils in overtime last Thursday, they can get back on track after a 4-15 stretch from mid-November through the end of December.

“We’re looking to get wins, follow up wins, and just haven’t been able to get that done. And that’s on us,’’ Laviolette said. “ . . . This is where we’re at. I think it’s 4-1-1 in the last six, and guys are competing, they’re working, playing good defense, and good things can happen.’’

One of the guys who has been working is rookie forward Adam Edstrom, the 6-6, 241-pound Swede who scored the winning goal on Saturday.

Edstrom, who surprised some by forcing his way onto the opening night roster with a strong training camp, said he’s proud that he’s been able to maintain his lineup spot for every game. He’s played in all 42 games this season, even as Laviolette has had to get creative in working new players into the lineup during the Rangers’ struggles.

The goal was Edstrom’s third of the season, to go with three assists, and came when he drove the net with his back to goalie Ilya Samsonov and pulled Jonny Brodzinski’s pass backward.

“I got a tip on the puck and it went in,’’ Edstrom said. “It’s one of those things — you pretty much practice tips from everywhere . . . That’s one of those things that I’ll kind of put some time and effort in and [practice tipping] the shots from the side.’’

Edstrom had left the game in the first period after dropping to block a shot and needed to go to the locker room to get checked out. But he returned to start the second period and was in the right position to get his stick on Brodzinski’s pass.

“I just threw it towards his body,’’ Brodzinski said. “It was going back post, towards Eddie, just a big body going to the net . . . that was a big thing that we wanted to do . . . is just get pucks towards the net.’’

It was an example of the simple, consistent game Edstrom plays, a perfect illustration of why Laviolette likes him so much. With Edstrom, the coach knows he can count on a hard-driving, physical big body who is always where he’s supposed to be.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.