PITTSBURGH — The likelihood of Filip Chytil being cleared to play Tuesday night against the Penguins, after the Czech center absorbed a hit to the head in the win over the Blackhawks, is especially low with the holiday break steadily approaching.
If the Czech center did in fact sustain a concussion — or some other upper-body injury — from Sam Lafferty’s late and high hit in the second period Sunday night, the Rangers would likely rather Chytil sit the next two games and take advantage of the four-day layoff from game action for Christmas.
Chytil and the rest of the Kid Line, which also features Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko, have played a major role in the Rangers’ seven-game win streak that they will carry into PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday. Over that span, the trio has combined for 18 points. The kicker is that the youngsters have posted an even six points each.
Gerard Gallant will have to rearrange the lines once again if Chytil is unavailable. The Rangers head coach has recently indicated the possibility of reverting to the original top-six winger-and-center duos that the club has deployed most of the season. That would reunite Chris Kreider with Mika Zibanejad on the top line, as well as Vincent Trocheck to the middle of the second unit alongside Artemi Panarin.
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Despite not always getting the ice time that goes along with it, the Kid Line acted as the No. 2 line in the previous three games. Before that, Lafreniere and Kakko flanked Zibanejad for three straight contests. It is possible Gallant goes back to that alignment, considering that the Rangers began to stack wins when he made that move, but the second-year Rangers coach usually sticks to what he’s most familiar with.
With Chytil out, Julien Gauthier is the next forward in. Since the Rangers are so thin at the center position, Barclay Goodrow will likely have to replace Chytil in the middle. But this is a perfect opportunity for Gallant to take Vitali Kravtsov off the fourth line, where the Russian winger has skated the last three games. Gauthier could slot back into the right-wing spot on the bottom unit and Kravtsov could be bumped up to the second line.
Kravtsov earned a shift with Panarin in Sunday’s win in Chicago, where he made the most of it by scoring a goal.
“Yeah, he made me look good,” Gallant quipped after the game. “When we lost Chytil there in the game we started mixing and matching some lines and different things. It was good for him to get that goal, good confidence for him.”
