Filip Chytil skated at Rangers practice today but won’t travel to Dallas and Arizona this weekend. (Brooks)

Vitali Kravtsov practiced today and has been cleared to play after missing the loss to the Isles with an upper body injury. (Staple)

Gerard Gallant met with the media on Friday and said (NYR):

• On Chytil’s status, “it was good news that he had a full practice, almost a full practice, but he didn’t feel good at the end. We’re gonna be safe and he won’t come on the trip.”
• On Julien Gauthier, “he played well, overall he played well. Speed, played fast, had a real good game and we’re real happy with him.”
• On practice today, “it was a good practice after a day off we had some pace to the first part and then a little d-zone coverage at the end and PP. Good practice, normal practice for us.”
• On getting better offensive results, “you just keep working and doing the things you are doing, putting pucks to the net. bearing down a little bit more, but you can’t get frustrated. It’s eight games into the season and you want to score goals, but some nights they don’t go in. You just gotta keep with it and stay with it and they’ll start coming in.”
• On Braden Schneider so far this season, “good, very good, solid, plays hard, competes every night.”
• Is Kravtsov healthy enough to play, “yep, he’s cleared to play.”
• So Chytil is the only player that won’t be coming, “yep.”
• On the process of how they are playing vs the result, “I’m happy with, and I said it from Day 1, and the first day of training camp, as long as we are playing the right way I’m happy. I want to win games, but the last five periods we played real good hockey. Didn’t win, we only got one point out of the Colorado game, but if you keep playing like that you are going to win games.”
• On Alexis Lafreniere, “Like the rest of the team, he’s getting his chances. He’d like to finish more, put the puck in the back of the net, but, again, I’m not going to point out Laffy or anybody else, he’s played fine.”
• On evaluating things game by game and not just going by having a losing streak, “That is 100% right. Individual players, you’re not going to get 82 great games from them, it’s going to happen. I liked our team game, the last five periods. We keep doing that and we’ll win hockey games, no doubt. Sometimes the results aren’t there, but keep sticking with it, play well and you’ll win games, that is how it works.”
• On managing back-t0-backs this early in the season, “Again, I sort of like back-t0-backs. Do I like three in one month to start the year? Probably not. Schedule guy will be pissed at me, but I don’t mind back-t0-backs because usually you get a couple of days of rest in-between them. We just haven’t played as well in the back-to-backs, so. Again, I thought we played good on the Island the other night.”