After missing 14 games in Pittsburgh on January 24 after suffering a broken hand, Philippe Chitil will return to the lineup for Tuesday’s Garden match against the Sabers.
“Pairing a man with that type of speed and skill set definitely makes everyone better,” Quinn said of the 21-year-old center. We felt he was playing the best hockey of his career before the injury.
“He was talking very well for us. It would be nice to have him back in the lineup. “
Chitil had recorded two goals and one assist after an open ice collision with Evan Rodrigues through the Penguin game, the fifth game of the Rangers’ season.
The Czech native has been skated to skate on the third unit, between Kevin Rooney on the left and Julian Gauthier on the right, against a Buffalo team that lost to the Flyers after losing 3–0 in a row. He lined up for the opener between Alexis Lafreniere and Gauthier before going between Phil Digusep and Capo Caco for their next four matches.
Artemi Panarin and Capo Kako live outside, so Quinn’s choice is limited. Mika Zibanejad will center Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich, while Alexis Lafreniere and Colin Blackwell will flank Ryan Strome in the top two units.
Rooney, a natural center, has played some on the wing. He will open on Chitil’s left, per Quinn.
“Because of a sincere effort night and night, [Rooney has] Quinn said, sticking aggressively from time to time and he is an honest player.
Given the nature of the injury, the cheetah may require relief at faceoff. Rooney’s 47.9 percent in the dots represents the best points among Rangers centers.
“How are we going to see [Chytil] Takes a draw, ”Quinn said. “Apparently Rooney has been very good at faceoff, so if there is trouble with the fill draw, we will sow with him.”
Kakoko is missing its fifth since being placed on the COVID-protocol list on January 20, when it will be released at 5 pm, is expected to come out of this list
“Capo will start returning to play protocol,” Quinn said. “We’ll just see how that goes.”
Quinn said he is in a daily contract with Panarin, who is missing his fourth game since taking a leave of absence in the wake of allegations of baseless attack leveled against him in Russia by Andrei Nazarov.
“I talk to Bread everyday, and he’s doing some skating,” Quinn said. “Again, we are waiting for the right time for him to return.”
Jacob Trouba, who has been on the recovery timeline of four to six weeks after breaking his thumb in a defeat to the Devils on February 16, has been skating regularly.
“He’s making great progress,” Quinn said. “We are expecting him to return as soon as possible.”
After three straight starts for Alex Georgiev, Igor Shesterkin was determined to find work in goal. This would mark Shesterkin’s 12th start in 20 games.
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