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#Rangers’ Filip Chytil has shot to make impact in his first playoffs

#Rangers’ Filip Chytil has shot to make impact in his first playoffs

July 22, 2020 | 9:35pm

Filip Chytil is one of several young Rangers who is getting thrown into the first postseason experience of his career.

But he may just be an unexpected component to the equation that will better the Rangers’ chances heading into this abnormal 24-team playoff tournament, considering he’s been just that once already this season.

The 20-year-old Chytil started the year in AHL Hartford after he was beaten out of a top-nine forward spot during training camp. He had played 75 games for the Rangers during the 2018-19 season, but the coaching staff wanted him to receive ample ice time and not bury him on the team’s fourth line this season.

When Mika Zibanejad went down in late October with an upper-body injury and the Rangers had lost six of their past seven games, the team called up Chytil, along with young defenseman Ryan Lindgren.

It was immediately apparent just how much Chytil took advantage of his demotion. The 6-foot-2 Czech Republic native became a catalyst for Rangers’ resurgence.

“He stepped in and really from the get-go, was dynamic,” head coach David Quinn said on a Zoom call following practice Wednesday. “You lose Mika — I think if you told anybody in late September or early October you’re going to lose Mika for 13 games, that was going to be a tall task to overcome. That being said … we went 8-4-1 during that stretch, and I know I’ve said this before, it gave us some hidden confidence.

“It gave us something that we thought we could hang our hat on. All of a sudden we got Mika back and we were having success without him, I think guys kind of realized what we were capable of doing. I think Fil allowed that to happen.”

Chytil recorded points in seven of his first nine games and never went back down to Hartford. By the time the coronavirus pandemic suspended the 2019-20 season, Chytil had registered 14 goals with nine assists for 23 points in 60 games. He had the same 23 points (on 11 goals and 12 assists) in 75 games the season before, his first full season in the NHL.

“I’m really confident,” Chytil said. “I’m ready; it’s my first playoffs. It’s going to be different than other seasons because we have to play somewhere else. But for me, nothing changes, it’s my first playoffs and I’m excited. I was getting ready for this part of the season and I want to be part of the success on our team.”

Chytil said he began working out immediately after he traveled to his home in the Czech Republic during quarantine.

He said he had been skating two to three times per week for five weeks before he ventured back to New York for training camp 2.0. Noting a change to his diet, Chytil said he feels like he got bigger during the hiatus.

“I’m not a guy who’s going to lay down and watch TV on the couch, I need something,” he said. “So I was working out every day a little bit. … I have a lot of energy.”

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