NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Head coach Peter Laviolette challenged the Rangers to respond to a passive opening 20 minutes, over which the Predators took a two-goal lead, and Vincent Trocheck spearheaded the effort.
After winning the offensive-zone faceoff, Trocheck made his way around the Predators goal to send a quick feed to Jacob Trouba in front that put the Rangers on the board just 31 seconds into the middle frame.
It ultimately counted as the first of a three-point night for Trocheck, who now has three such performances this season.
The 30-year-old also assisted on Chris Kreider’s goal later in the second, in addition to scoring on the power play at the 9:11 mark to knot the game at 3-all.
“I think he’s kind of in a way one of the unsung guys of this team that isn’t always the big-name recognition,” Rangers captain Jacob Trouba told The Post after the Rangers took a 4-3 win over the Predators. “But I think he continues to get the job done, especially with guys being injured. He’s always been great, [he was] great again tonight, I think.”
“He’s a guy that just brings it every night and is so consistent that you never really notice when he’s up or down because it’s just always been so consistently good for us.”
With points in nine of the past 12 games, Trocheck has been especially crucial to how the Rangers have fared without Filip Chytil, though his game-to-game contributions have been consistent since opening night.
Not only has Trocheck made an impact on the scoreboard, but the gritty center has a presence that is felt by the opposition on the ice.
Trouba noted that he felt the Rangers were missing a bit of attitude at the start of the game Saturday, but Trocheck’s pesky ways helped the team get back into it. Trocheck brings his teammates into the battles with him, Trouba said, which is a quality anybody would want in their teammate.
“He really cranked it up,” Laviolette said of Trocheck, whose 20 points in 22 games is ranked third on the Rangers. “He played a great game. I really liked the line that we put together [with Kreider and Jonny Brodzinski]. I thought that they did a lot of good things out there. They were fast on the forecheck in the offensive zone. They made some big plays.”
The Rangers will compete in the back end of their second back-to-back set of the season Sunday against the Sharks at Madison Square Garden.
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