Filip Chytil had skated for 201 minutes and nine seconds this season before finally getting to exhale.
Once the Rangers’ 19-year-old pounced on a rebound Monday night and made sure his 25th shot of the season would be the first one that found the back of the net, Chytil was free to play his game, no longer burdened by a goose egg.
“You see him score and then you see how much more comfortable he is,” Chris Kreider said after the Rangers’ 2-1 win over the Canucks at Madison Square Garden. “He just looked like the weight of the world was off his shoulders, flying around.