Well, that didn’t take long, did it? Four games, three of which the Rangers have won to move within a victory of taking out the Penguins at the Garden in Friday’s Game 5, and the campaign against and denigration of Rick Nash is in full force across social media.

Ridiculous.

It is true Nash has not dominated in this series the way he dominated the first five months of this regular season — through which he was consistently, and by a considerable margin, the best player on the NHL’s best team. But he is not playing badly, and he most certainly is not playing timid hockey.

Nash’s unit, which co-stars Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello, has been the team’s best hockey infantry with their ability, albeit erratic, to get the puck below the goal and to the front of Marc-Andre Fleury’s net. The rush attack has been stifled to a large degree, but there’s another team out there, and the other team’s primary strategic objective has been to stifle the Blueshirts’ speed and transition game. Pittsburgh’s conservatism has achieved its goal.

Of course, the Penguins also have scored just one goal in each of three defeats, all by 2-1. Stretching back to last year’s Game 5 of the second round, the Penguins have scored one goal in each of their six defeats to the Blueshirts. Evgeni Malkin has one goal in those losses. Sidney Crosby has none.

And Nash’s unit has been matched about 60 percent of the time against either No. 87 or No. 71. So there’s that, and there’s Nash’s status as a premier penalty killer to take into consideration.

But yes, one goal, too, is what Nash has in this series, with that one coming at 19:54 of the third period of the Game 2, 4-3 defeat. No. 61 would agree that it’s not enough, and that he can contribute more on the offensive side of things.

He acknowledged that he has to bury his chances, such as the one he had with five minutes remaining in regulation when he was set up in the slot by Zuccarello, only to be beaten by a Fleury pad save that kept the score tied at 1.

“I think I’ve got to make more of my opportunities,” Nash told The Post following Thursday’s practice at the Garden. “I had a couple point-blank [shots in Game 4], and he just beat me on that one late in the third, but I also kind of missed my shot, as well.

“The playoffs are a different pace and a different speed,” said No. 61, who leads the club with four points. “I think I’ve been getting rid of the puck a bit too early at times instead of holding onto it, because I’m worried about making a mistake that would put us in bad defensive position.

“I think our line was pretty solid the last two games,” he said. “We’re on a lot against two of the best players in the world [Crosby and Malkin], we didn’t give up much and I thought we were able to make them defend.

“You need to be smart. You can’t take too many chances.”

The Rangers, who rarely practice, skated Thursday because at least several players felt the team lacked energy at the start of Wednesday’s match after having been off the ice and idling in and around their downtown Pittsburgh hotel on Tuesday following Monday’s Game 3 victory.

The Blueshirts mustered two shots in the first period, one at even-strength and that one from long range — a chance-less first 20 minutes in which the Penguins dominated from pillar to post. Alain Vigneault had a choice message he delivered sternly and loudly during the first intermission, after which it still took the team seven minutes to reverse momentum, but no doubt he caught the players’ attention.

Vigneault isn’t typically a screamer, but he demands attention to detail, he holds players to a high standard, and he insists upon players conforming to his system, about which he is quite particular. Make no mistake about that. He leaves the room to the players, and he relates to them like men, but when he has something to say, he has a way of saying it in no uncertain terms.

“I do what I think needs to happen and they can interpret it the way they want,” said Vigneault, who keeps dialogue about himself and his interaction with the team to a minimum. “It’s my job to give them the right guidelines.

“Everyone has their ways.”

In a reversal of historical form, and to borrow a term from baseball, the Penguins have watered down the basepaths in an attempt to slow down the speed-driven Rangers. Pittsburgh has turned this series into a grinding affair. The Rangers, largely underrated as a blue-collar community because of the flash-and-dash talent on the roster, have been better at the grinding game, even if not necessarily for 60 minutes at a time.

And Nash has been an important part of the effort that has the Rangers one victory away from winning a fourth straight opening-round series. In fact, if they do so, the Blueshirts will become the only team in the NHL with that long of a streak.

“All season we have focused on playing a team game,” Nash said. “The importance of that increases in the playoffs.

“I feel confident,” he said. “I just have to keep playing that way and make the most of my opportunities.”