On a night when the Rangers paid tribute to so much of their recent past, Filip Chytil provided a hopeful glimpse toward the future.
The 18-year-old center scored his first NHL goal in the third period of a 7-3 loss to the Lightning on Friday night in the Garden season finale.
Just when the Blueshirts (33-36-9) looked lifeless, with the Lightning having scored five consecutive goals, Chytil jumped on a loose rebound to the side of the net and tucked it home for the milestone goal at 8:14.
“I’m glad that I scored my first goal, finally,” the 2017 first-round pick said after his fifth NHL game. “It’s something special and I’m very glad my first goal was in Madison Square Garden.”
Chytil, who had a team-high four shots, said he would give the puck to his parents as a present. He became the first 18-year-old Ranger to score since Manny Malhotra during the 1998-99 season.
The Czech Republic native’s first tally came four days after fellow first-rounder and teenager Lias Andersson scored his first goal.
“It’s great to see,” said Chris Kreider, who added his 16th of the year in the third period. “There were a couple times Fil took off tonight and you could see he’s a bit of a horse there, flying down the outside.”
The rest of Friday was not just any other home finale for the Rangers. It also served as a homecoming for Ryan McDonagh, J.T. Miller and Dan Girardi.
Before the puck even dropped, the crowd rose to its feet and roared after a video tribute for all three ex-Rangers played, remembering some better times.
Miller tallied a goal and an assist and Girardi added a late power-play goal as the Lightning (52-22-4) jumped back into first place in the Eastern Conference.
“A lot of good friends there on the other side, so just tried to keep it serious and professional during the game,” Miller said. “It was a cool experience, what they did for me, G and Mac.”
Making his first start since suffering a sprained MCL on Feb. 9, Rangers goalie Ondrej Pavelec fell victim to odd-man rushes galore while making 43 saves.
Before the pregame tribute, Henrik Lundqvist was announced as the winner of the 30th annual Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award for the second time. The fan-voted honor is given to the Ranger who “goes above and beyond the call of duty” in honor of NYPD detective Steven McDonald, who was shot and injured in the line of duty in 1986 and passed away last year.