3 takeaways: Upper St. Clair's Vince Trocheck continues to score against Penguins

During a 4-2 home win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, Rangers forward Vince Trocheck recorded two assists.

The first came on the winning goal by linemate Chris Kreider at 11:45 of the third period. The second came on an empty net goal by Kreider at 19:10 of the final frame.

Those assists gave Trocheck, a native of Upper St. Clair, five points (all assists) in three games against the Penguins this season.

Trocheck has never been an overly prolific scorer against the Penguins throughout his career before this season.

In his first season with the Rangers after joining them as an unrestricted free agent signing, Trocheck spent the first nine seasons of his NHL career with either the Florida Panthers or Carolina Hurricanes. Before the 2022-23 campaign, Trocheck had faced the Penguins in 20 games and scored 10 points (three goals, seven assists).

• Penguins forward Ryan Poehling was activated from long-term injured reserve and returned to the lineup after missing 15 games due to an undisclosed ailment.

Primarily deployed on the fourth line and the penalty kill, Poehling logged 8:43 of ice time on 15 shifts (including a team-best 2:30 short-handed) and had one shot on one attempt while going 1 for 3 (33%) on faceoffs).

• Penguins forward Mikael Granlund, newly installed as the third-line center, was 2 for 8 (20%) on faceoffs.

That underwhelming performance comes on the heels of a perfect 12-for-12 effort during Tuesday’s 6-4 home loss to the Montreal Canadiens.

Granlund’s dazzling offering on Tuesday set a new franchise mark for the best faceoff numbers in a game since the NHL began keeping such statistics in 1997.

Former forward Matt Cullen previously held the mark with an 11-for-11 effort during a game against the Calgary Flames on Feb. 16, 2019.