Gerard Gallant appreciates how Jacob Trouba bounces back from mistakes.
Although it is not said whether the Rangers captain has been able to recover after making expensive changes.
Trouba had two more in Monday’s game against the Devils, but the Rangers won 4-3 in overtime for their fourth win.
“He’s good,” Gallant said after practice Wednesday. “He’s fighting hard, competing hard, he’s a big part of our group. He makes mistakes just like any other player in the league. The last game cost us a goal, but it happens. It’s part of the game. Troubs is back [from] very good. That’s what you like about veteran players and a guy like him. He does not make mistakes [affect him]. If you’ve set a goal, go ahead and get ready for the next shift. You like professionals like that.”
Trouba’s struggles have become an all-too-familiar trend through the first 30 games of the season. He has offered signs of improvement lately, having failed to score at even strength in each of the Rangers’ last three games before Monday.
But against the Devils, two of his key mistakes came early and led to a pair of goals, one direct and one indirect.
“It happened, move on,” Trouba said Wednesday. “I will not dwell on it. It cannot be changed.’
The first giveaway came in the Rangers’ defensive zone at 2:57 of the opening period, and Igor Shesterkin saved a shot from Devils forward Tomas Tatar. But the Devils won the ensuing faceoff and Nico Hischier put them up 1-0 four seconds later.
Moments later, Trouba got his stick on a Devils pass in front of the Rangers goal, but he couldn’t get the shot clear and the puck found Dawson Mercer to make it 2-0.
“Let’s face it, he tried to tip the puck and it didn’t, so you can’t blame the guy for that,” Gallant said. “We always laugh about it. In the NHL, there are a lot of times when you’re under pressure to turn pucks over and sometimes you miss them. But no, it’s part of the game. You will be pressured and make mistakes. But it’s about recovering from a mistake. “There is not one player in this league who does not make mistakes.”
With the Rangers flat in the first period — not just from Trouba — Gallant mixed up his lines once again, this time with his defensive pairings. Trouba went from playing with K’Andre Miller to partnering with Libor Hajek as Braden Schneider rushed to play with Miller.
As a result, Trouba played just 18:41 – the fourth fewest minutes in a game this season.
At the start of Wednesday’s practice, Trouba was back with Miller, but he skated with Hajek at times.
Either way, Trouba downplayed the defensive-pairing shakeup and focused on a team that is winning against tough competition as it tries to fully dig itself out of the hole it dug itself into early in the season.
“We’re finally having a little bit more fun, which is nice to see,” Trouba said. “We’ve had times where we haven’t played good hockey, but we’ve worked things out and we can tell when it’s happening. [flip the] replacement In general, we played very good hockey.
“You know there’s going to be ups and downs throughout the season. We’ve always believed that it’s going to benefit us, we just have to keep doing it and keep playing the right way.
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