Chytil Scoring Fuels Recent Rangers’ Surge

The New York Rangers are expected to explore adding a veteran scorer, such as Chicago Blackhawks’ Patrick Kane, to put a late season charge into their offense.

But lately it seems as if that boost can be provided by someone already in the lineup.

Filip Chytil scored in his fifth consecutive game Wednesday night to help the Rangers down the Vancouver Canucks 4-3 in overtime.

The 23-year-old Czechia native has seven goals in his current streak. But he’s truly been a different player for the first 40 days of the new year.

After starting the season with four goals in his first 19 games, Chytil has tallied 15 goals in his past 24 games. That’s a 51-goal scoring pace. His 19 goals this season are a new career high.

"I love scoring goals," Chytil said. "It's a great feeling, but it's a great feeling also because we are winning the games and it's helping the team get the points.”

The Rangers (29-14-8) are 4-0-1 during Chytil’s goal surge and 7-2-1 in their last 10 games. They have strengthened their playoff outlook. They remain third in the Metropolitan Division and are six points ahead of the Washington Capitals who are the nearest wildcard team.

New York ranks 13th in the NHL in goal production at 3.22 goals per game. But with Chytil leading the way, the Rangers have 21 goals in their last five games for 4.2 goals per game.

The Rangers will likely still talk to the Blackhawks about Kane, but Chytil’s developmental leap makes it seem like they have already added a scorer. There’s been some buzz lately about the possibility of the Rangers, wanting to make a postseason splash, looking to add a seasoned defenseman.

⭐️ Dallas Stars extend point streak to seven games with 4-1 win over the Wild. Jamie Benn opened the scoring just 23 seconds into the second period with a beautiful deke for his 20th of the season (see below). Radek Faksa and Jani Hakanpaa added goals in the second period and Roope Hintz chipped in an empty netter in the third to extend his goal scoring streak to three games. Jake Oettinger made 38 saves as the Stars captured their first regulation win since January 21.

👊 The Vancouver Canucks looking forward to battling Horvat and the Islanders tonight. Just 10 days after being traded out of Vancouver, the Canucks get their first chance to compete against their old captain Bo Horvat tonight at UBA Arena. The Canucks are 0-2 since the Horvat trade while the Isles are 2-0 coming off a 4-0 thrashing of the Kraken.

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