Shattenkirk feels ‘sting’ in debut home loss

It was a bittersweet return home for Kevin Shattenkirk, as the kid from New Rochelle who grew up rooting for the Rangers made his debut for the Blueshirts during their season-opening 4-2 loss to the Avalanche on Thursday night at the Garden.

“I think the result still stings right now,” Shattenkirk said after he finished with an assist and a minus-3 rating (one goalagainst being an empty-netter). “When I look back on it a long time from now, it will obviously be a great moment for me. It’s still a special night in my career. But right now I think I am just a little upset with the result of some plays out there that I felt like I could have had a better effect on the game and helped our team out a little bit more.”

The Rangers signed Shattenkirk to a four-year, $26.6 million deal worth $6.65 million per this summer with the hopes that he could bring some life and offense to their back end. He showed that talent with a terrific assist on the first of two power-play goals for Mika Zibanejad.

But Shattenkirk also admitted he needed to be better when Matt Duchene beat him to the front of the net for the gameopening goal 5 minutes 29 seconds in.

Filip Chytil, the 18-year-old rookie center, got only 7:40 of ice time, with just three shifts in the third period and none over the final 8:37. With no prominent spot on either speciality team during a game that was rife with penalties, it was hard for coach Alain Vigneault to find the time to get him on the ice.

The highlight of Chytil’s NHL debut was a 2-on-1 less than two minutes into the game when he chose to pass cross ice and it was broken up. The scratches were Nick Holden and Steven Kampfer on defense, while injured winger Jesper Fast was the only extra forward besides Andrew Desjardins, who remains with the team on his professional tryout.