Jacob Trouba did not mince words when analyzing his play in his first two contests back from an 11-game absence with a lower-body injury.
After leaving the ice following a 5-2 defeat at the hands of the Penguins on Monday night at Madison Square Garden, the captain took full responsibility for the turnover that led to Pittsburgh’s first goal of the game just 18 seconds in from Bryant Rust.
“Just trying to get it through [to Vincent Trocheck], hit his skate,” Trouba said. “It’s a big mistake that cost us a big goal in the game. That can’t happen. It’s not on anybody but me. It’s something I got to be better at starting the game.
“I think the positive for me is it’s a lot of things that are easily fixable for myself that are kind of holding the team back since my coming back. My game improves, this team’s going to be in good shape.”
The Rust goal took all the air out of the Garden and out of the Rangers’ sails, but Trouba and his defensive partner, K’Andre Miller, didn’t do much to help them get it back.
Pittsburgh scored three times with Trouba and Miller on the ice, and they managed to slip behind the defensive duo on more than one occasion to maintain a consistent offensive threat all night.
Asked if it was just a matter of shaking off the rust, Trouba dismissed the notion.
“I’m not going to make a bunch of excuses about it,” he said. “It’s a mistake. It’s probably going to happen again in my career. Got to move forward, got to learn from it. I know I can be a better player and more impactful player in a positive way on this team. That’s what I want to do moving forward.”
The Rangers are nearing full strength for the first time since before the trade deadline.
Erik Gustafsson participated in morning skate on Monday in a red non-contact jersey for the first time since sustaining an upper-body injury on March 23.
Monday night marked the fourth straight game Gustafsson has missed, after the Swedish defenseman absorbed an elbow to the head from the Panthers’ Sam Reinhart.
Gustafsson is the last regular skater missing from the lineup.
Trouba returned to game action on Saturday in Arizona, while Ryan Lindgren was sidelined for only four games with a lower-body injury from March 19-26.
The Blueshirts only had to play one game without three of their top-six defensemen, on March 26 against the Flyers, but the organization’s depth was challenged nonetheless over the last three weeks or so.
Coming into Monday’s game, Zac Jones had impressed in the previous 12 contests. Skating alongside Gustafsson, Chad Ruhwedel, Adam Fox and Braden Schneider, the 23-year-old Jones has maintained the same level of play no matter who he has been paired up with.
Jones scored his second goal of the season on Saturday against the Coyotes, bumping the UMass product’s career-high points total to nine.
Matt Rempe was a healthy scratch for the third straight game on Monday.
Alexis Lafreniere was named the NHL’s third star of the week for his five-goal and two-assist stretch.