The Rangers’ path to a game seven win became a little easier after Hurricanes goalie Antti Raanta exited in the second period with a lower body injury, and the Rangers beat third-string goalie Pyotr Kochetkov moments after he came into the game to open up a 3-0 lead.
But Carolina was already shorthanded by then, after top-line winger Seth Jarvis was knocked out of the game midway through the first period after another heavy hit by Jacob Trouba, which led to another debate on NHL Twitter as to whether the hit was a clean one.
Jarvis struggled to get off the ice after the hit up high, which led to a too many men on the ice penalty against Carolina, resulting in a power play for the Rangers, who scored on the man advantage to make it a 2-0 game. As for Trouba, who was under fire for his high hit on Sidney Crosby in game five of the first round series against the Penguins and then hit Max Domi in game four of the conference semifinals, his hits have been under the microscope all postseason.
The hit on Crosby came with the Rangers down in the game 2-0, and after he left, New York scored three times in less than three minutes to take momentum and stave off elimination, eventually winning in game six with Crosby still sidelined to force a game seven. After the Domi hit, Steven Lorentz went after Trouba for the hit and was issued a instigator penalty that put New York on the man advantage, which they scored on to take a 1-0 lead en route to evening the series at two games apiece.
So, the recent hits from Trouba that many have argued aren’t clean have also led to some favorable outcomes for the Blueshirts, only adding to many fans’ ire about Trouba’s style of play.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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