The Rangers had a bit of an injury scare during their second preseason matchup with the Islanders on Tuesday night, as Filip Chytil was forced to the locker room just six minutes into the contest.
Chytil was skating towards the offensive zone when he went down after taking a tough knee-on-knee hit from Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield right around center ice.
He remained down for quite some time as play continued, and after a scrap went on in the corner, he needed assistance being skated off from trainers and his teammates down the tunnel to the locker room.
There was plenty of concern at the time from the Garden faithful, as Chytil was seemingly unable to put any weight on his left leg as he made his way off the ice.
“I saw him coming at me, maybe I could’ve made a better move,” he said postgame. “I was ready for the hit but I wasn’t ready for his knee coming towards my leg, it’s a hockey play, but it wasn’t very comfortable in that moment.”
Luckily for the Rangers, Chytil began to feel better shortly after and he was able to return to the ice and took his last couple of shifts with a little over a minute remaining in the first period.
He went on to play the remainder of the game, which is certainly a huge sigh of relief for the youngster who has been plagued by the injury bug throughout his pro career.
“If I can play I will play,” he said. “I’m not saying that this was the best game for myself but in my head now I’m happy that I came back and worked through it, and now I can move on and recover.”
And Chytil, who is facing no restrictions this camp, continued his strong start as he logged another power play goal to help the Rangers complete their miraculous third period comeback.
He now has two goals, an assist, and eight shots on goal through two preseason games.