The weather was sunny and pleasant. The Rangers looked like the best team in hockey. April Fool’s.

Neither was true on the first day of April. Instead, the weather was dreary. The Rangers looked nothing like the number one overall team in hockey.

An uninspired start put them behind by two goals. Although they made it interesting late after trailing by three, the comeback fell short in a 5-2 loss to Sidney Crosby and the Pens at The Garden.

In his only appearance at MSG this season, Crosby dominated the matchup with Vincent Trocheck and mismatched defensive pair K’Andre Miller and Jacob Trouba. Crosby had a goal and assist before 11 minutes had elapsed. One of the game’s greatest players, he finished the game by adding an empty netter to give him three points.

That clinched his 19th season of putting up at least a point-per-game, tying Wayne Gretzky for the record. The Rangers were on the wrong side of it. Crosby set up a goal from Bryan Rust just 18 seconds in. On a bad turnover from Jacob Trouba, Reilly Smith passed the puck for a Crosby shot on Igor Shesterkin that came right to Rust for an easy finish.

In his second game back, it was a brutal night for Trouba. He and Miller struggled mightily when going up against the Crosby line. For the night, each finished a minus-3. Rangers coach Peter Laviolette insists on keeping them together. It’s only been two games for Trouba after missing most of March. However, he doesn’t look up to speed.

Would it kill Laviolette to go back to Braden Schneider working with Miller, who looked much more comfortable when they teamed up in Trouba’s absence? There’s nothing wrong with having Trouba play on the third pair with Zac Jones. Jones was one of the bright spots, going plus-2 in over 18 minutes. He continues to make a strong case to be in the top six, even when Erik Gustafsson is healthy.

The Rangers looked sluggish for a majority of the first period. Especially whenever Crosby was out against Miller, Trouba, Trocheck, Artemi Panarin, and Alexis Lafreniere. Every offensive shift they had, Crosby made something happen. Another Trouba giveaway nearly led to Crosby scoring. He missed wide.

However, they weren’t so lucky a bit later. With the Pens absolutely owning the play in the Rangers’ zone, Kris Letang fed Pierre-Olivier Joseph for a one-timer that Crosby redirected home for his 36th goal of the season at 10:39. That put the Rangers behind by two.

Laviolette delayed at the bench before challenging for offsides. The replays on MSG Network were hard to tell. It was inconclusive. With it too close to overturn, the call on the ice stood. That gave the Pens a power play.

But Erik Karlsson took a bad penalty when he knocked Trouba’s stick out to earn an interference minor. That evened things up. During the four-on-four, nothing materialized for either side.

When it was over, Penguins backup goalie Alex Nedeljkovic made a key stop on Chris Kreider. Originally not expected to start, he played well with Tristan Jarry out due to illness. Nedeljkovic made 28 saves on 30 shots to earn the win.

Following a lackluster first, the Blueshirts turned it up in the second period. They were much better at attacking the Pens in their end. It looked like they’d find a goal and turn the tide.

With Evgeni Malkin off for slashing Adam Fox, the Rangers’ power play did everything but score. They got multiple looks on it. Following a Trocheck shot that hit the crossbar, they thought they had a power-play goal.

Mika Zibanejad let go of a one-timer that beat Nedeljkovic with Kreider parked in front. But referee Wes McCauley immediately waved it off. He cited goalie interference on Kreider. Judging from the replay, Kreider made just enough contact with Nedeljkovic to negate the goal. While many fans didn’t like the call, it’s incidental contact with the goalie. That’s why it didn’t count.

When play resumed, the top unit created a few more chances. But Nedeljkovic made three saves, including a pair on Panarin. He also made a good stop to deny Adam Fox.

After the power play expired, the Rangers continued to generate opportunities. Kreider came close, but his wrist shot hit the goalpost. Will Cuylle also missed a chance. He was again on the fourth line. Something that doesn’t make sense.

Kreider would be the trailer on a four-man rush. He took a back pass and just missed wide from the slot. It was that kinda night.

Igor Shesterkin then made a strong denial on a Malkin backhand in tight. It was his best save of the game. The loss wasn’t on him. It was more indicative of how the Rangers played. They’d been winning games despite not being at their best. Eventually, your luck runs out. It did tonight to end their winning streak at five.

Late in the second, another Karlsson penalty put the Rangers back on the power play. Despite getting a couple of shots on Nedeljkovic, they also had some attempts not reach the net. That included Panarin having his shot blocked by Letang. Zibanejad broke his stick on one attempt to send it wide.

They still trailed the Pens 2-0 after two periods.

In the third, the Pens played a solid defensive game. They frustrated the Rangers by playing a tight checking style. That kept them to the outside and limited their chances. Nedeljkovic was able to see the shots.

When Cuylle made a mistake by trying to make a pass inside his own blue line, the loose puck went past Trouba to send Emil Bemstrom on a breakaway. He made no mistake by shooting over Shesterkin’s glove to give the Pens a 3-0 lead with 10:09 left.

But over a minute later, Panarin and Fox combined to set up an open Kaapo Kakko in the right circle for a one-timer that just snuck over the goal line. Nedeljkovic made the glove save. Once they went upstairs to review it, Kakko had his 12th goal of the season to cut the deficit to two with 9:18 remaining.

After killing off a bench minor for too many men on the ice, the Rangers drew a little closer. On a bit of a fluky play, Zibanejad fired a one-timer that banked off the back boards right to Jack Roslovic, who was able to put in the rebound for his second goal as a Ranger. That cut it to 3-2 with 3:07 left in regulation.

With Shesterkin on the bench for an extra attacker, Letang won a board battle to get the puck past Zibanejad and Trocheck. Jeff Carter fed Rust for an empty netter that made it 4-2 with 2:11 left.

The Rangers didn’t give up. But it was a determined Crosby who got in front of a Panarin shot and blocked it. He then broke ahead to put in the empty netter to seal it with 45 seconds left.

By losing the game, they were unable to take advantage of the Hurricanes being idle. They still lead the Metropolitan Division by three points. Each team has seven games remaining.

The Rangers are one point up on the Stars for the President’s Trophy. They’ll return to action on Wednesday night against the Devils. The game will be on TNT.

The Devils are very much alive now due to the teams in front of them. Despite some bad losses, including a miserable 5-2 defeat at the Sabres last Friday, they are still in play for the playoffs. Wednesday’s game should have a playoff intensity. We’ll see if the Devils can bring the same urgency as the Pens.