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OTTAWA, Ont. — Filip Chytil was kept at AHL Hartford because the Rangers wanted one of their prized prospects close by, just in case they needed him.
But with an invite from his native Czech national team to play in the 2018 World Junior Championship, the Blueshirts loaned their 18-year-old first-round pick in the hopes that the international tournament would aid in his development.
“My experience of the World Juniors — I’ve been there twice — for a junior player, it’s one of the best experience you can have,” coach Alain Vigneault said before his team lost to the Senators, 3-2, on Wednesday night at Canadian Tire Center. “You’re talking about representing your country, you’re talking about playing in high-pressure environments, important games. So I think for the development of any young player, if you have the opportunity to represent your country, it’s something you can’t pass up.
“Filip was given the opportunity and I think it’ll make him a better player.”
After being taken by the Rangers with the 21st pick in the 2017 draft, Chytil made the Rangers team out of training camp. But he was overwhelmed when the games started to count, getting into just two NHL contests before being sent down.
General manager Jeff Gorton decided to keep him in the AHL rather than send him back to his junior team in the Czech Republic, with Chytil feeling he was very close to being a NHL player. He dealt with two different injuries while playing for the Wolf Pack, first a foot/leg issue after blocking a shot on Oct. 24, and then a cervical strain suffered on a hit into the board’s stanchion on Dec. 2 from which he had not yet returned. He has five goals and 12 points in 15 games for the Wolfpack.
He should be ready for the tournament, which traditionally starts on the day after Christmas — Boxing Day, to Canadians. And the hope is that he plays well and returns more ready to join the Rangers.
“He’s going through the development of any young player,” Vigneault said. “He’s coming along real well. We know that we’ve got a player there with a lot of potential.”
Henrik Lundqvist started in goal and made the 20,000th save of his career early in the first period. Lundqvist is the 15th player in history to reach that mark, and only Jacques Plante had allowed fewer goals (1,739) at the time he reached the plateau as Lundqvist (1,749).
Odds are that Lundqvist will split this weekend’s back-to-back with Ondrej Pavelec, starting with the Kings in the Garden on Friday night and then a 5 p.m. game in Boston on Saturday.
Defenseman Marc Staal played his 720th career game, all with the Rangers, passing Andy Bathgate for sole possession of 11th place on the franchise’s all-time games played list.
The lineup stayed the same for the sixth straight game, with defenseman Steven Kampfer remaining a healthy scratch.