NEW YORK _ At his team's morning skate Tuesday, when asked why the team had called up defenseman Ryan Lindgren, along with forward Filip Chytil, from AHL Hartford Monday, Rangers coach David Quinn essentially said the addition of Lindgren would improve the parent club's defense.
"He's played very well, and obviously we think we're in a position where we can continue to improve our defense corps, and it's nice to have a seventh guy here who can challenge people and push people," Quinn said.
With the 20-year-old Chytil taking the place of injured first-line center and top scorer Mika Zibanejad, out with an upper-body injury, the 21-year-old Lindgren pushed 13-year veteran Marc Staal out of the lineup for the final game of the Rangers' five-game homestand.
Both players delivered, with Chytil scoring the game-winning goal when he stretched out to get his stick blade on a pass from Pavel Buchnevich that beat Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy and gave the Rangers a 4-1 victory at Madison Square Garden.
A goal by Adam Fox, the first of his career, at 17:24 put the Rangers up by two and Ryan Strome added an empty-netter.
The addition of Chytil and Lindgren gave the Rangers seven players aged 21 or younger in the lineup against the Lightning, including three 21-year-old rookie defensemen. And the young Rangers (4-5-1) outplayed the Lightning, one of the NHL's elite teams and last season's President's Trophy winners as the team with the best record in the regular season.
Another member of the Kiddie Korps, 18-year-old Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2 pick overall in the draft this summer, scored his second goal of the season, banking in a power-play goal off Vasilevskiy and Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn that tied the score at 1 at 9:37 of the second period. Nikita Kucherov's goal, at 15:44 of the first period, had given Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead.
Lindgren played on defense with fellow rookie Fox, who had been partnering with the 32-year-old Staal. Lindgren took a couple of hits from Lightning forecheckers but played a sound game overall and looked very much like he belonged.
Staal scored the first goal of the season for the Rangers, and has that one goal and no assists in nine games.
With Staal and Zibanejad not dressed, Jacob Trouba wore the third alternate captain's "A," along with Chris Kreider and Jesper Fast.
Chytil, the second of two first-round picks in 2017 (Lias Andersson, who also played Tuesday, was the other), had been given the first crack at earning the No. 2 center spot, behind Zibanejad, in training camp. But he failed to take advantage, and was sent to Hartford. He didn't sulk after getting sent down, though. He allowed himself only a couple hours that day to feel disappointed, he said, and then he got to work.
"I just tried to try to focus on what's going to be, and on the next practice in Hartford," Chytil said after Tuesday's morning skate.
The Wolf Pack won eight of their first nine games (with a shootout loss), and their 17 points are tops in the AHL. Chytil put up nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) and was plus-9 _ the best plus/minus figure for any forward in the league.
Quinn, though, said he was more impressed that Chytil did all the other things the team needed him to do, beyond scoring. And when asked whether Chytil's recall was a temporary one, just based on the fact that Zibanejad was unable to play, the coach said it wasn't.
"If Fil plays the way he has been, he'll be here for a while and that's what we're anticipating," Quinn said.
