The Rangers were never going to hold Sidney Crosby to zeroes on the scoresheet, but through two games of their first-round playoff series, things could be going better.

Much of the talk following the Rangers’ defeat in Game 1 centered on doing more against the Penguins’ first line, centered by Crosby. And after the Rangers’ 5-2 victory in Game 2, much of coach Gerard Gallant’s time will again be devoted to figuring out some way, any way, to slow down Crosby.

Twice on Thursday night, Crosby helped create Pittsburgh goals from little, stymying the Rangers’ momentum. The Rangers managed to hang on for a win that ultimately looked easier than it was, but that does not change the underlying calculus.

“I think overall, we contained [Crosby] a little bit, but they’re great players,” Gallant said. “[Jake] Guentzel and Crosby are good players. That line’s a real top line and they’re tough to defend. … They get their chances.”

Crosby, one of the greatest players to ever lace up a pair of skates, is going to be a problem no matter what, but the Rangers can’t let that spiral the way it did over the first two games at the Garden.

Toward the end of the second period on Thursday, with the Rangers holding a 3-1 lead and threatening to score a fourth goal, Crosby made something from nothing. With the Rangers all but literally on his back, he skated right down the ice on the rush, fed Bryan Rust, then put home the rebound.

Maybe there is nothing the Rangers can do when one of the game’s greats pulls that out of his back pocket. On Pittsburgh’s first goal, when Crosby turned Artemi Panarin over in the neutral zone to kick off a sequence that ended with Guentzel scoring from the slot (his third goal in two games).

Of the six goals the Penguins have scored through the first two games, the Crosby line has accounted for all but one — Evgeni Malkin’s triple-overtime winner in the opener.

Coming into Game 2, the Rangers wanted to keep Crosby’s line in check for more than the 25 minutes they managed to do so Tuesday.

They certainly put together more of a 60-minute effort Thursday, but finding a way to quiet Crosby will have to wait.

“I still think he’s a dangerous player a lot,” Gallant said. “Again, I talked about matching up. Mika [Zibanejad’s] line plays against him quite a bit, but it’s next guys up, whoever’s playing against that line’s gotta do a good job.”

Zibanejad’s line, indeed, was on the ice for both of the Penguins’ goals. And though it contributed two of its own as Crosby’s line failed to dominate the way it did in Game 1, the advanced stats don’t tell a positive story. The trio of Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Frank Vatrano had a lackluster 29.32 expected goals percentage at five-on-five in Game 2, per Natural Stat Trick, with nine high-danger chances against.

So there’s still room to tighten things up, though that did not cost the Rangers the way it did on Tuesday. The Penguins, meanwhile, need their other three forward lines to start contributing in a meaningful way.

With the Rangers needing to steal a win at PPG Paints Arena, the lack of an answer for Crosby may continue to torment them.