NEW YORK -- Filip Chytil was helped off the ice at Madison Square Garden on Friday morning after the New York Rangers center suffered a setback from the upper-body injury that has kept him out of the lineup since early November.
Chytil went down during the Rangers' optional morning skate before their 5-2 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. Team trainers tended to Chytil, and he was assisted to his feet and off the ice by defenseman Zac Jones and forward Jake Leschyshyn.
Chytil, Jones and Leschyshyn were the only Rangers skaters on the ice at the time.
He was evaluated immediately at the arena and will continue to be evaluated. Chytil is at home in New York.
“It's obviously tough," coach Peter Laviolette said after the game Friday. "He's an important piece to our team. He's a good young player for us. So it's tough to see that.”
Chytil practiced with the Rangers on Thursday in a red no-contact jersey. It was the first time he skated with the team since sustaining his upper-body injury against the Carolina Hurricanes on Nov. 2.
He returned to New York from Czechia earlier in the week after going home in late December to continue his rehab and training with the Rangers calling it a reset.
Chytil, who has six assists in 10 games, will miss his 38th straight game Friday.
The Rangers also assigned center Nick Bonino to Hartford of the American Hockey League on Friday after he cleared waivers. Bonino was put on waivers by the Rangers on Thursday.
Bonino is not expected to report to Hartford until after the NHL All-Star break, which is Feb. 1-3.
He has five points (one goal, four assists) in 45 games this season after signing a one-year, $800,000 contract with the Rangers on July 1.
Bonino was a healthy scratch in a 2-1 loss at the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday, but played the final two games of their four-game road trip that ended with a 3-2 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday.
