The New York Rangers are mired in a season full of lowlights. Players have been skating into each other. The puck never leaves the defensive zone. Tap-ins are aimed at the side walls instead of the gaping net. In Tuesday night's 4-0 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, Vincent Trocheck made sure he threw his hat in the ring for the worst play of the 2024-25 season so far.
DISASTEROUS sequence for the Rangers 🤦♂️
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) January 29, 2025
Vincent Trocheck turns the puck over on the breakaway with a Blake Comeau-esque drop pass and the Canes take it the other way pic.twitter.com/cpkW9tJJt9
After making a wonderful play in the defensive zone, Trocheck earned a breakaway. As he scorched into the Carolina zone, he looked over his shoulder, noticing K'Andre Miller trailing behind. Just before arriving at Frederik Andersen's crease, he tried to drop the puck to Miller. Carolina defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere broke up the play. Trocheck put out what could have been a fire for the Hurricanes before the match was even able to hit the ground.
Of course, Carolina broke out the other way.
With Trocheck and Miller out of the picture, Jackson Blake, Mikko Rantanen, and Andrei Svechnikov went tic-tac-toe for an easy goal. What could have been a 1-1 game going into the final frame was flipped to a 2-0 deficit in the blink of an eye. This moment proved to be the turning point of the night.
In the third period, Trocheck also fell victim to a reverse-hit from Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal. It was certainly a game to forget for the Rangers center. He was on the ice for two goals against, and only registered one shot. Normally a goliath in the faceoff circle, he won only 40 percent of his draws. In just over 11 minutes of ice time at even strength, Trocheck had an expected goals percentage of 44.01, which was worse than his linemates Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere. He lost numerous races to the puck and multiple board battles. He needs to be better.
Overshadowed by the struggles of other stars such as Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, Trocheck has quietly regressed this season. Last year, he registered 77 points in 82 games. This season he has just 32 points in 49 contests. Players who play all three facets of the game need to show consistent excellence.
Perfection cannot be the expectation every night, but the Rangers are trying their best to make that necessary as they fall further behind in the playoff race.