Chytil exits early after apparent head injury

Filip Chytil went straight to the locker room, where he remained for the rest of the Rangers’ 5-1 loss to the Blue Jackets on Sunday, after taking an elbow to the head from Columbus forward Cole Sillinger early in the first period.

Following the hit, which came from behind, the 23-year-old was slow to get back on his skates. The Rangers classified it as an upperbody injury, but it’s safe to say it is a head injury of some sort. That forced Gerard Gallant to rotate his remaining three centers for the rest of the game.

“He’s day-to-day,” the Rangers head coach said. “We’ll reassess him [on Monday] and see how he is. Big loss early in the game. I didn’t see [the hit] until I looked at the video after. I don’t think it was a vicious play. I don’t think he meant to hurt him, but he still got him with a shoulder in the head. I don’t think there was any intent at all.”

The Rangers have now had three players suffer injuries since the final game of the preseason. Sammy Blais suffered an upper-body injury in the preseason finale against the Islanders, which sidelined him the first three games. Vitali Kravtsov went down after three shifts in the season-opening win over the Lightning and was out until Sunday.

Both injuries were minor, but a head injury for Chytil could be serious. Chytil missed three games last November with a suspected concussion.

➤ Kravtsov back in the lineup after missing the previous four games with an upper-body injury, slotting onto the right wing of the third line next to Barclay Goodrow and Chytil.

“Show that skill, show the talent,” Gallant said of what he hoped to see from Kravtsov. “Like we tell all our players, it’s about doing the right things with the puck, managing the puck at the right times. It doesn’t have to be a highlight play every time you make a play. Sometimes you just dump it in the corner, making the simple play and changing.

“Don’t try to have too many turnovers and when you get your opportunity, make those plays and go hard to the net and shoot some pucks.”

As a result, Jimmy Vesey was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. Since the Rangers lost Dryden Hunt on waivers to the Avs, Vesey will likely serve as the top depth forward, depending on how things pan out with Kravtsov.

➤ Artemi Panarin extended his scoring streak and put the Rangers on the board at 18:44 of the second period. In the final seconds of five-on-three play, with two Blue Jackets in the penalty box, Panarin scored from between the circles to cut the Rangers’ deficit to two.

The star winger’s four goals and eight assists through six games not only moved him up to first place in the NHL in points, but is also the longest season-opening point streak by a Ranger since Marian Gaborik went eight games during the 2009-10 season.