It’s possible that Chytil was fine, and the Rangers made the decision that with a 3-1 lead at the time and the 25-year-old’s history of concussions, they would be cautious and not play him in the third period. If that’s the case, though, then why would they have played him for one shift late in the second?

The internal battle between knowing they can play better and still picking up wins continued for the Rangers on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

An eventful second period saw the Blueshirts snap out of their slump but also lose a key player to a scary injury.

Filip Chytil collided with a teammate and did not return for the third period. Struggling center Mika Zibanejad scored for the Rangers.

The 25-year-old left the game in the second period following an awkward collision with teammate K’Andre Miller during a puck battle in the offensive zone. The incident occurred as Chytil and Miller chased a loose puck, miscommunicated, and collided with each other as replays showed Miller's elbow impacting on Chytil's head.

The Rangers officially ruled out Filip Chytil for the remainder of their game against the Sharks with an upper-body injury.