Known for hard-hitting hits that sometimes border on the legality, Jacob Trouba was once again the talk of Tuesday night against the Montreal Canadiens.
This time, he dealt a severe check to defender Justin Barron who took the brunt of the shock with his head.
The gesture occurred midway through the third period. Barron was carrying the puck into opposing territory when he was greeted near the blue line by the Rangers defender. In the sequence, we can clearly see that the head is the point of impact following the check.
The Canadiens defenseman remained stunned on the ice and did not return to the game afterward.
Mike Matheson came to Trouba’s defense of his teammate. He was kicked out for instigating the fight. Trouba was not punished for his action against Barron.
“I saw the restart, it seems to have hit him in the head,” says CH captain Nick Suzuki. We don’t really agree with this decision. It was hard to see Justin fall on the ice. »
The Command Center, however, saw the situation differently.
In the Command Center exchanges, as reported on NHL.com, it is stated that those in charge of analyzing the sequence were “all in agreement that this was a good legal check.” and that Barron had to recognize that he had put himself in a vulnerable position and that he had to prepare to be struck.” Rob Shick, the supervisor of the Command Center, then contacted Marc Joanette, the supervisor stationed at the Bell Center, to confirm that he was in agreement with the officials’ real-time decision not to award a penalty to Trouba for this play. in failure.
Shick also said that “it’s good to let referees know that the decisions they make in real time are correct, because it gives them the confidence to know that they are doing a good job despite the fact that coaches, like Martin St-Louis of the Canadiens in this case, yells at them and the players are emotional in the moment.”
“I find that his first point of contact is the head,” coach Martin St-Louis simply reiterated in his post-match press briefing.
The Rangers won 7-2.
