The New York Rangers were favored to win against a Pittsburgh Penguins team missing top star Sidney Crosby, but the visitors pulled off an upset 3-2 victory to set off alarm bells at a key moment in the 2024-25 NHL season. The result prompted a strong message from Rangers center Vincent Trocheck.
Trocheck, who is playing for the United States in the Four Nations tournament, scored a goal and added an assist, but it wasn’t enough for the Rangers against the Penguins, who were without star forward Crosby due to an upper-body injury.
With this result, the New York franchise remains at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division with a record of 26-24-4, so it is time to react if they want to go far in the current season. That’s how Trocheck sees it, and he had some blunt words about the Rangers’ current situation.
Trocheck’s harsh message after loss to Penguins
“We weren’t ready the first 40. We outplayed them in the third by a lot, had tons of opportunities, but we can’t wait. We can’t have that. It’s inexcusable. We know where we’re at in the standings (sixth in the Metropolitan Division). We know we need every point. Two games left before break, we can’t have what just happened. You can’t lose 40 minutes and expect to win a game,“ Trocheck strongly said according to NHL.com.
Rangers vs Penguins in the 2024-25 NHL season
How long has it been since the Penguins won a game without Sidney Crosby?
Pittsburgh won a game without Sidney Crosby for the first time since November 11, 2021, when they defeated the Florida Panthers 3-2. The Penguins star missed his first game since April 7, 2022, when he was sidelined with an illness during his team’s 3-0 loss to the New York Rangers.
see also
Sidney Crosby out: When was the last time the Penguins star missed an NHL game?
When will Crosby recover?
It’s unlikely that Sidney Crosby will be available Saturday night when the Penguins take on the Philadelphia Flyers in their final game before a two-week break, but his status is up in the air by the minute. Not only is Pittsburgh keeping an eye on their star player’s return, but Team Canada also wants to have their captain available for the Four Nations.
