from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

This is my take and not Peter Laviolette’s, but I am thinking the reason the Rangers head coach inserted Filip Chytil into the lineup for Thursday’s third game of the conference semis after a 188-day absence is that he believes that the club will need No. 72 in order to go the long haul, and what better time to bring him back than with a 2-0 series lead?

And now, with an ebullient and healthy Chytil back in place, the Blueshirts are just nine victories away from a parade up the Canyon of Heroes, nine victories away from lifting the Stanley Cup after recording their seventh straight victory of the tournament, this one 3-2 in overtime on Artemi Panarin’s exquisite deflection at 1:43 for No. 10’s fourth game-winner of the tournament.

Chytil came through his 12:02 of ice time without a care in the world. He kept up. He dangled twice in the third period. No one would have known that the 24-year-old hadn’t played since Nov. 2 in the regular season’s 10th game, when he sustained what is believed the fourth concussion of his career. It was as if Chytil jumped onto a speeding Acela in full flight.

And, man, does Laviolette deserve a lot of credit for this. The coach switched the lineup after six straight victories. He scratched Matt Rempe after the Rangers had won their last 15 games with him in the lineup.

Laviolette spit into the wind, and the Rangers soared.

The coach has their back, and the players have his.

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