New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba’s apparent mission to take as many head shots as possible may be finally coming to an end in the playoffs.
Not because the NHL finally wised up and suspended him, but because the Tampa Bay Lightning are on the verge of eliminating the Rangers and Trouba’s head hunting ways.
I know for many, hockey falls off their radar after the Penguins are eliminated from the playoffs, but the Rangers, and Trouba, being eliminated would be a, albeit small, consolation prize.
The Penguins might still be in the playoffs if not for Trouba. He not only elbowed Jake Guentzel in the head in the first round, his headshot to Sidney Crosby totally derailed momentum the Penguins had in Game 5 and the captain missed all of Game 6.
Trouba’s goonery continued in the next round elbowing Carolina Hurricanes Max Domi and Seth Jarvis (to be fair, the Jarvis hit did look borderline legal.
But Trouba’s seemingly malicious intent was on full display on Thursday night during the Rangers loss to the Lightning in Game 5, with Tampa winning 3-1, and the irony is, he didn’t even make contact with his attempted headshot.
During last night’s game, Trouba took a shot at Lightning forward Ondrej Palat, leaving his feet with elbow out and extended. Luckily Palat ducked and avoided potential serious injury.
Palat went on to score the game winning goal to give the Lightning a 3-2 series lead.
Makes you wonder though, if Trouba connected and Palat couldn’t play, would the Rangers have won another one?
Also makes you wonder, why is the NHL doing absolutely nothing about this?