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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Adam Fox was activated off injured reserve and suited up for the Rangers’ crucial 4-0 win over the Blue Jackets on Saturday night.

The 27-year-old defenseman had missed the previous eight games with an upper-body injury, which he presumably suffered when he fell on his shoulder after getting entangled with Kyle MacLean in the 5-1 win over the Islanders on Feb. 25.

“Good,” Fox said of how his first game back felt. “When you miss a couple games with an injury and come back, you try not to be a little tentative. You want to get that awareness out there. I play kind of an instinctive game, so you’re trying to get that a little bit back. I thought as the game went on, felt a little better. Just tried to keep it as simple as possible.”

It was the second-longest injury stint of Fox’s six-year NHL career, after the Jericho, N.Y., native missed 10 straight games last season on long-term injured reserve with a knee injury.

That injury was aggravated in the playoffs and limited Fox.

Fox had registered at least a point in each of his past seven games, over which he posted two goals and six assists.

He continued to produce in his return, posting a secondary assist on Vincent Trocheck’s shorthanded empty-net goal and two blocks in Saturday’s win.

Despite missing as much time as he did, Fox is still tied with Mika Zibanejad for the third-most points on the team at 49 (five goals, 44 assists).

Fox slotted back into his usual post at the top of the first power-play unit, along with J.T. Miller, Chris Kreider, Artemi Panarin and Zibanejad.

That bumped Zac Jones to quarterback the second group with Vincent Trocheck, Alexis Lafrenière, Jonny Brodzinski and Will Cuylle.

With Fox good to go Saturday night, Carson Soucy served as the healthy scratch.

He watched from the press box with fellow scratches and Rangers trade-deadline acquisitions Calvin de Haan and Juuso Parssinen.

The K’Andre Miller-Will Borgen pairing remained intact, while Braden Schneider slotted onto the right of Jones on the third pair.

“I thought he got better every minute as the game went on,” head coach Peter Laviolette said of Fox. “By the third period, he looked like he was finding his groove. You’re out for a while, I think it takes just a second.”

After going 11 games without a goal, Vincent Trocheckscored three times in the past two contests.

He has posted seven 20-goal seasons in his NHL career.

His second goal Saturday night counted as the Rangers’ 14th shorthanded tally of the season, which is the most in the NHL.