The Rangers had already taken an injury hit hours before their overtime loss to the Stars on Tuesday when Chris Kreider landed on injured reserve, retroactive to Sunday, with an upper-body injury.
But their lineup situation worsened when center Filip Chytil exited with an upper-body injury against Dallas and didn’t return.
Head coach Peter Laviolette predictably didn’t divulge many details after the Blueshirts’ 5-4 loss.
He reiterated — twice — that Chytil had sustained the injury and was being evaluated, including after a second question that asked whether this was connected to a previous injury or concussion.
Chytil’s final shift of the night ended with around four minutes left in the second period, and he wasn’t on the bench for the remainder of the game once the third started.
While details on the specific injury and Chytil’s status remain unclear, the 25-year-old’s career has been filled with absences, including a harrowing stretch last year after he suffered what was believed to be the fourth suspected concussion of his career just 10 games into the season.
He returned home to Czechia during a portion of his recovery and suffered a setback in January, but he eventually returned for parts of the Blueshirts’ playoff run.
Chytil also missed seven games earlier this season with an upper-body injury that wasn’t a concussion.
When healthy, Chytil has become one of the Rangers’ more productive players this season with 10 goals and 17 points while recently centering the third line with Brett Berard and Will Cuylle.
But if Chytil misses time, the Rangers will need to adjust their lines again with Kreider also out.
Jonny Brodzinski skated with Mika Zibanejad and Reilly Smith in Kreider’s place for a second consecutive game Tuesday.
And they recalled Matt Rempe from AHL Hartford to take Kreider’s roster spot, though Rempe still needed to serve the final game of an eight-game suspension — stemming from boarding and elbowing Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen on Dec. 20 — and wasn’t available against Dallas.
Vincent Trocheck, who scored two goals for the Rangers, took responsibility for the Stars’ fourth goal despite the sequence starting with a brutal turnover by K’Andre Miller in the corner of the Blueshirts zone.
Trocheck lost track of Thomas Harley as he floated in front of the net, which eventually allowed for Harley to have an open shot.
“My fault on the fourth goal, though, so doesn’t really mean anything if you don’t win the game,” Trocheck said of his goals and his line’s production. “So gotta clean that up.”
John Giannone, the Rangers studio host and reporter who has been with MSG Networks since 2002, said on the pregame show that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer a month ago.
He has already started treatment and described his prognosis as “excellent.”
Tuesday was the Rangers’ Hockey Fights Cancer Night at the Garden.
“It came after a routine yearly physical,” Giannone said during the pregame show. “A heightened blood test that led to an MRI and then finally a biopsy that produced the diagnosis.”