PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien isn't happy with his team's effort, so he's putting the Penguins to work.

The Penguins have lost six of their last seven games and now stand 11-11-4 after a 7-3 start. After Tuesday's loss to struggling Florida, Pittsburgh fell to 13th in the Eastern Conference.

Therrien has seen enough, and he put his team through a grueling workout on Wednesday.

"I didn't like the effort of some of the guys (Tuesday), and as far as I'm concerned, it's unacceptable," Therrien said. "And there's a time when you've got to send a message, you've got to say, 'Hey, that's got to stop. That's enough."'

Players talked openly before facing Florida — which came into the game having lost its last six games — that it was a must-win game to get the team back on track. Afterward, several players decried the lack of desperation within the team.

"Sometimes people get caught up in systems and things like that," said leading scorer Sidney Crosby.

"Hockey hasn't changed. It takes hard work to win. We had an example of that hard work today in practice. I don't think it's frustration. It's just guys who want to go out and work hard."

Pittsburgh started a stretch of seven games in 12 days, so it was rare for the Penguins to have such a strenuous workout. They play at New York against the Rangers tonight.

"It was a good wake-up call for us," veteran winger Mark Recchi said. "We got put to work. Hopefully, this carries over to (Thursday). A message was sent today, and hopefully guys respond."

The Penguins have not been getting outplayed or blown out during the recent skid, something Therrien has stressed lately.

"We're missing that little thing, that little difference between the win and the loss," Therrien said. "We've got to learn what that thing — those things — are. And that's part of the learning process."

Notes: Therrien would not say if defenseman Micki DuPont, promoted Monday from Wilkes-Barre of the American Hockey League, would dress against the Rangers. He was a healthy scratch Monday. ... Therrien indicated Marc-Andre Fleury would start in goal today after veteran backup Jocelyn Thibault started Monday.