It wasn’t quite a present, per se, but Scott Morrow did get something for his 24th birthday on Sunday that he’s been hoping for since late September. The young defenseman finally got the chance to leave the press box and play his first game of the season for the New York Rangers, albeit in a 4-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at Madison Square Garden.

A healthy scratch the first 14 games, Morrow replaced Sean Durzi in the lineup; the veteran defenseman was unable to play due to a lingering unspecified injury. After a few wobbly moments early, paired at even strength with rookie Alberts Smits, Morrow played a sturdy game at both ends of the rink. He displayed some impressive confidence and swagger jumping up offensively after the Rangers tried to dig themselves out of an early hole.

Morrow picked up the primary assist on New York’s only goal of the night, when Pavel Dorofeyev cashed in a rebound of the birthday boy’s right-point shot at 13:22 of the second period. That goal got the Rangers (7-7-1) back to within 3-1, and Morrow kept pushing offensively trying to narrow the gap even more. He tied Mika Zibanejad for the team lead with eight shot attempts, and recorded three shots on goal, in 15:02 TOI.

His most recent game action was Sept. 24 in the preseason. He last played in the NHL on Feb. 28 last season. His most recent NHL point was an assist against the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 20.

In between then and now was a season-closing run with Hartford of the American Hockey League in 2025-26 — and an extended stretch in the press box to start this season, Morrow likely would’ve been in Hartford again if not for the fact that the Rangers worried he wouldn’t clear waivers, now that he’s no longer waivers exempt.

Morrow worked hard, stayed ready, and on his birthday reminded everyone what he’s capable of. His 65.87 percent expected goal share 5v5 Sunday, per Natural Stat Trick, led all Rangers skaters. Good for him.

“I thought he had a strong game, especially after being on the sidelines for as long as he has. That’s something that’s not an easy challenge,” coach Mike Sullivan said postgame. “I just thought he did a real good job keeping the game simple, not trying to do too much, but making plays when they were there.”

Key takeaways from Rangers fourth straight loss, 4-1 to Oilers

‘Awful’ Garand pins loss on himself

Dylan Garand allowed a goal 50 seconds into play on the first shot he faced. It’s hard to blame him, though, considering Connor McDavid flew past Vladislav Gavrikov, cut to the middle and beat Garand clean — and, you know — McDavid does that to a lot of goalies in this league. He does, after all, have 39 points in 15 games this season, not to mention three Hart Trophies as NHL MVP and six Art Ross Trophies as the League’s scoring leader on his resume.

But the second goal Garand surrendered wasn’t a great one. He let Colton Dach’s shot from the left circle beat him under his pads at 6:19. It looked like three goals on five shots to start the game when Evan Bouchard hammered a tracer up and over his shoulder at 8:53. But the on-ice officials waved that goal off because Dach entered Garand’s crease of his own accord.

Bouchard eventually detonated another bomb past Garand at 9:49 of the second period to make it 3-0 Edmonton. But after that, Garand found his bearings and made a slew of timely saves, including an absolute gem, robbing Mattias Ekholm point blank with a lunging right-pad save in the final seconds of the middle stanza, keeping New York’s deficit at 3-1.

After the game, Garand placed this defeat, New York’s fourth in a row, squarely on his shoulders.

“Honestly, I felt really, really good in the second 30 minutes, and I thought my first 30 minutes was awful. Honestly, inexcusable,” the 24-year-old rookie said postgame. “Let the guys down … so yeah, pretty disappointing … Put that loss on me. And yeah, it sucks.”

This was Garand’s 10th consecutive appearance (eight starts, two in relief) and 11th game overall this season. He’s 4-6-1 with a 2.73 goals-against average and .897 save percentage, and, admittedly, needs to find his top form again with Igor Shesterkin injured and out for the season.

Rangers coach pushes back on slow start narrative

Sullivan wasn’t biting about the narrative that the Rangers once again started slowly. He subtly blamed shaky goaltending, referring to Edmonton scoring three goals on nine shots to start the game.

“Just from an energy standpoint or even a momentum standpoint, I felt like the guys had the right intentions,” Sullivan explained afterward. “The first goal is a tough one. McDavid is a unique player. He ramps up speed like that, he’s hard to stop. Other than that, I thought for the most part, I don’t feel like the start was the reason — the start of the scoreboard was, but I don’t necessarily agree that it was a lack of being ready when the puck drops. I didn’t feel like that was the case tonight.”

To his point, scoring chances were 7-7 at 5v5 in the first period, and the Rangers actually held a 3-2 advantage in high-danger chances. The Rangers outshot the Oilers 29-26, including a decisive 15-7 edge in the second period.

The Rangers came off a five-day break in the schedule and somehow chased this one the entire night, just like in each of their previous three defeats, including a 6-3 home-ice loss to the Kings on Monday. New York had its legs and the effort appeared to be there, but it did seem like the Rangers ran out of steam in the third period, when the Oilers did a terrific job tightening things up and locking down the road victory for fourth-string goalie Matt Tomkins.

Perreault quickly back in top-six spot

Much was made about Gabe Perreault slotting in on the third line after riding shotgun next to Zibanejad all season. But Perreault didn’t last long on the third line Sunday, before flipping spots with Oliver Bjorkstrand on J.T. Miller’s line in the top six.

Perreault, Noah Laba, and Will Cuylle didn’t register a single shot on goal in 5:55 TOI together 5v5, per Natural Stat Trick, though Perreault made a pair of sweet dishes that his linemates failed to handle. He, Miller, and Tye Kartye managed two shots on goal in 6:28 TOI at 5v5, but were outshot 5-2 and had an unsightly 22.20 expected goal share.

The 21-year-old finished with two shots on goal and five attempts in 18:09 TOI. Meanwhile, Dorofeyev, who got bumped up to Zibanejad’s line, scored New York’s only goal, his second in three games. However, that was Dorofeyev’s only shot on goal all night.