5 hours Ago
NEW YORK — The New York Rangers sprang to life in the second period to put down the San Jose Sharks on Thursday but the concern after the 3-2 win centered around Filip Chytil , who left the game after two periods following a big collision with teammate K’Andre Miller . Chytil, who was off to a strong start this season with four goals and five assists in the first 14 games, crashed into Miller in the offensive zone as the Rangers hunted for more to extend a 2-1 lead. Chytil was slow to get up and kicked the boards in frustration as trainer Andy Hosler advised Chytil to head to the locker room.
He went, came back and took one more shift in the second period but didn’t return for the third. Advertisement Peter Laviolette said Chytil is day to day and will be further evaluated. The Rangers will practice on Saturday before heading out on a week-long, four-game road trip that starts in Seattle on Sunday.
The rest of Thursday was encouraging, if not exactly dominating. The Sharks came in 5-2-1 in their last eight and worked hard to disrupt the Rangers attack in the first 30 minutes, taking a 1-0 lead on Timothy Liljegren ’s infield fly shot from the point that deflected in the air and sailed past Igor Shesterkin , who never saw the fluttering shot. But a three-goal flurry in 4:40 tilted the game firmly in the Rangers’ favor, a run kicked off by a very relieved Mika Zibanejad depositing a rebound of Adam Fox ’s shot.
Jimmy Vesey and Vincent Trocheck added goals and the Rangers held on in the closing seconds. Old friend Barclay Goodrow made his Garden return and had a bevy of scoring chances but didn’t convert. “It wasn’t a Picasso,” Vesey said, “but we needed the win and we got it.
” Worry for Chytil Any suspected head injury is bad. A suspected head injury for Chytil is horrible. He missed all but 10 games last year with two concussion incidents, one that looked a little too much like last night’s collision with Miller.
Chytil ran into Jesper Fast on the Garden ice last Nov. 2 and that jolt sent him to injured reserve for 12 weeks; as he tried to ramp back up for a return in late January of last season he bumped with a teammate during an optional practice and was almost immediately ruled out for the season. He did return to play six playoff games and had declared himself ready to go this season.
His strong start to 2024-25, mostly on a line with Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko , reinforced his decision to keep going despite several known concussions. No one on the Rangers was willing to go down a scary road immediately after Thursday’s game but knowing his history, this has to be a real worry. Advertisement And not just for Chytil’s long-term health.
Zibanejad and Trocheck both had goals on Thursday but Chytil has been the team’s most effective center so far; it’s also not a position of organizational depth for the Rangers, who would almost certainly turn to Jonny Brodzinski to fill the 3C spot in the short term. They did that last season and it only got the Rangers so far. Alex Wennberg , who made his return to the Garden with the Sharks on Thursday, was the trade deadline acquisition to fill that spot, which he did well; if Chytil is out long-term, GM Chris Drury may have to be aggressive earlier than planned to find a more dynamic center than what the Rangers currently have.
Goodrow welcomed back Goodrow wasn’t happy about the way things ended with the Rangers in June. Contrary to a previous report by me , Goodrow did not reject a trade to the Sharks before being waived — the Rangers simply informed him 15 minutes before placing Goodrow on waivers that he was being placed there and the Sharks scooped him up. But that’s old news now and Goodrow, who got a turn playing with 2024 No.
1 pick Macklin Celebrini on Thursday, was welcomed back by the Garden crowd and got a brief video on the scoreboard. He had a handful of good chances to score on his old team, including a short-handed breakaway in the third, but could not convert. Zibanejad breaks through Zibanejad’s goal, his third of the year and first in nine games, brought on a very relieved celebration from No.
93. It likely helped erase the sting of Tuesday’s ugly night for Zibanejad, who had three turnovers that led to Winnipeg goals in that loss, looked very out of sorts and spoke candidly about the mental side of his slump on Wednesday. Laviolette hadn’t singled Zibanejad out during his down stretch and he didn’t want to make too much of the goal that kicked off a strong 8-minute stretch for the Rangers on Thursday.
“It was a big goal, right?” Laviolette said. “It did put some life on the bench and in the building. I think it was really no more than that.
That’s what he’s capable of.” MIKA ZIBANEJAD IS ON THE BOARD 🔥 pic.twitter.
com/eIMimaHM9Q — B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) November 15, 2024 After Chytil went down Zibanejad picked up some extra shifts in the third though the bulk of the bonus minutes went to Trocheck, whose line with Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafrenière had some pep. And if Chytil is down for a stretch, Zibanejad will be counted on even more at five-on-five, so his goal on Thursday might mean something after all. Advertisement Fourth line impresses Vesey’s second goal in five games since his return from long-term injured reserve was a simple, attacking play, where Vesey tried to thread a rush pass through traffic, saw it kick off a skate and he followed it up with a backhand past Mackenzie Blackwood .
When Chytil went down last season the bottom six Rangers forward group was very much adrift — Goodrow didn’t really pop as a fourth-line center and the third line was little used with Brodzinski in the middle. Things look very different now with the Adam Edström -Sam Carrick-Vesey line getting decent minutes and bringing some stability to the forward group. “They move it from the defensive zone, they’re smart through the neutral zone,” Laviolette said.
“They’re able to generate offense and chances. I think they’ve been pretty good.” (Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images).
