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New York Rangers: Chytil’s resurrection and other takeaways from Preds win

By Andrew Steele-Davis

NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 02: New York Rangers center Filip Chytil (72) celebrates his first period goal during the NHL game between the Nashville Predators and New York Rangers, held on November 2, 2019, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 02: New York Rangers center Filip Chytil (72) celebrates his first period goal during the NHL game between the Nashville Predators and New York Rangers, held on November 2, 2019, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Murphy/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – NOVEMBER 02: Ryan Strome #16 of the New York Rangers scores a goal against goalie Juuse Saros #74 of the Nashville Predators during the second period at Bridgestone Arena on November 02, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – NOVEMBER 02: Ryan Strome #16 of the New York Rangers scores a goal against goalie Juuse Saros #74 of the Nashville Predators during the second period at Bridgestone Arena on November 02, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /

1. Next Man Up

Hitting the road and heading to a hostile barn in Smashville, the New York Rangers were facing an uphill battle prior to faceoff on Saturday.

And that task became even harder when it was established that franchise center Mike Zibanejad would miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury.

However, as they did in the 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday, the Blueshirts battled on and they got the job done against Nashville without one of their stars.

Ryan Strome, centering the top line between Artemi Panarin and Jesper Fast, potted his fourth goal in as many games and established a new career high after extending his points streak to six straight games.

Filip Chytil – and we’ll have more on him later – has played like a man possessed since being recalled from the AHL and he recorded a goal for the second straight game.

Chytil was at the heart of everything good the Rangers did against the Predators and his encouraging performance, coupled with another strong showing from Strome, helped to compensate for the loss of Zibanejad.

Given the way this team had been playing and the fact that Zibanejad had totalled 11 points (four goals, seven assists) through nine games, the fact that the Rangers have now collected four points from two Stanley Cup contenders is no mean feat and should be applauded.

Both Strome and Chytil in particular have stepped up to the plate since Zibanejad went down in the loss to the Boston Bruins last week, and they both played key roles in last night’s success in Nashville.

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