Laviolette says Rangers' Adam Edstrom 'noticeable' in his NHL debut

BOSTON — Hockey players aren’t immune from catching the same viruses that everyone else does every winter, and with some kind of flu bug going around the NHL right now, the Rangers were dealing with that issue as well. As a result, coach Peter Laviolette had a couple of game-time decisions for his lineup against the Boston Bruins on Saturday night at TD Garden.

One thing Laviolette did know was that defenseman K’Andre Miller, who missed the previous two games because of a personal matter, was back in the lineup. The Rangers still decided to call up defenseman Connor Mackey from their Hartford farm team before the game in case Laviolette needed to put him in.

“I think it’s catching everybody,’’ Laviolette said of the rash of illness that seems to be affecting so many teams around the league. “You hear of other teams, with players coming out of the lineup, and it’s got to do with sickness, illness .  .  . I don’t want to speak for our team, but obviously it’s cold and flu season.’’

Forward Nick Bonino, a last-minute scratch for Friday’s 5-1 win over Anaheim at Madison Square Garden, was one of Laviolette’s game-time decisions, and he ended up playing, as did all the rest of the regulars. But when Bonino couldn’t play Friday, that allowed Adam Edstrom, a 6-7 forward called up from Hartford on Friday, to enter the lineup and make his NHL debut. Edstrom scored a goal in his debut.

“It was great that he came up [and played] his first game,’’ Laviolette said. “Now it’s real. It’s not training camp. His size, his speed [stood out]. He tried to be physical, he’s hard to move in front of the net. He can really get going for a big guy, and that was noticeable [Friday] night. I thought he played a real strong game for us.’’

Edstrom, who found out after Hartford’s morning skate Friday that he was getting called up, said, “I was just trying to keep my nerves and cool, but it’s kind of special getting out here in front of all these fans.’’

He called making his Garden debut “a dream come true, for sure.’’

“Making your NHL debut is a dream, but making it at Madison Square Garden, it’s special, for sure,’’ he said.

The one thing he didn’t get to do was the traditional “rookie lap,’’ when players about to make their NHL debuts typically get to go onto the ice before the rest of the team in warm-ups.

Although he dressed for warm-ups Friday, Edstrom was not expected to play, and so he didn’t take his rookie lap. After the game, he was asked if he thought he might take his rookie lap Saturday in Boston.

“I doubt it,’’ he said with a laugh. “I feel like I don’t need that anymore.’’

But he did get to take his rookie lap Saturday, stepping onto the TD Garden ice first and taking a couple of shots before his teammates joined him. But because Bonino returned to the lineup, Edstrom was a healthy scratch.

Notes & quotes: Goaltender Igor Shesterkin got the call for the back end of the back-to-back after Jonathan Quick started against Anaheim on Friday. Shesterkin entered having lost his previous three starts and allowing 15 goals across the three games .  .  . D Zac Jones and Mackey were the other healthy scratches, along with Edstrom .  .  . The Rangers will be off Sunday after the back-to-back, but the plan was to stay in Boston and practice here Monday before flying to Toronto for Tuesday’s game.

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.