Rangers' second power-play unit finally came through with a goal
Filip Chytil #72 of the Rangers celebrates his first period power play goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022 in New York City. Credit: Jim McIsaac
GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Gerard Gallant said Friday that the decision to pull his top power-play unit off the ice and send out his second unit with 59 seconds remaining on the Rangers’ only power play of Thursday’s game was a spur-of-the-moment thing on his part, not something he planned.
“For the most part, I’d like our top guys, when they go out there, [to be on] for a minute-and-20,’’ Gallant said after his team practiced in preparation for Saturday’s game in Philadelphia against the Flyers. “Well, a minute-and-20 turns into a minute-and-50 very often, because there’s no whistle. So there was a minute gone in the power play; why not give those [second-unit] guys a chance?’’
So Gallant called off his vaunted first power-play unit and sent out Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafrenière, point man Jacob Trouba and rookie Vitali Kravtsov. It paid off when Chytil scored 27 seconds later to break a scoreless tie en route to a 3-1 win over the red-hot Maple Leafs.
It was the first goal by the second power-play unit all season in 31 games — and it meant the world to those guys.
“Yeah, it was the first goal of the season,’’ Kakko said Friday. “We got a little bit more time than usually, like about one minute, so that’s good. We got a couple of good shots and then the goal, obviously. That was a big one for the whole team, and I know it maybe gave us some more energy. We’ve been there but never scored a goal this year. So the first one is always a big one, you know?’’
Three-fifths of the second unit is the reunited Kid Line of Kakko, Lafrenière and Chytil, which seems to be playing more forcefully than they did the last time they were together last month. The trio, which had been the team’s most dynamic line in the playoffs last season, were together for eight games in November but couldn’t seem to regain the spark they had last spring.
“Yeah, that’s true,’’ Kakko said. “Last time we didn’t play that good . . . But I think the whole team has been playing very good lately. And I think our line also.’’
Chytil agreed that part of the reason the Kid Line is playing well is because the rest of the team is playing well.
“It helps us, because we’re on that [five-game winning] streak right now and of course, it’s easier to come to the rink and playing better hockey than when you’re losing and coming to the rink and you need to find ways to win,’’ he said.
There’s a new feel with the Kid Line now. In previous incarnations, the young group (Chytil is 23, Kakko and Lafrenière are 21) wore green jerseys in practice, signifying that they were the third line. These days, they’re wearing gray jerseys, signifying they are the second line.
“We’ve been talking about that,’’ Kakko said with a grin. “We’re thinking like we’re going to wear all the jerseys over the course of the whole year. Maybe it’s going to be the red one [fourth line] at some point and maybe white [first line]. But I don’t know, I think it’s still the same line, and it doesn’t matter during the game.”
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
