Rangers captain Jacob Trouba seriously injures Canadiens' d-man Justin Barron with questionable hit

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Cooper Godin
October 22, 2024 (8:11 PM)

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New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba laid out Montreal Canadiens defenceman Justin Barron with a questionable hit during Tuesday night's game.

It was a battle of Original Six teams in Montreal on Tuesday night as the New York Rangers made the trip north of the border to face the Canadiens. The Rangers got off to a very quick start and after the first 20 minutes, led the game by a score of 4 to 1.

In the third period, things got pretty heated. Under six minutes into the final frame, Chris Kreider and Brendan Gallagher were each handed two minutes for roughing, but the game turned up a notch shortly after.

Just over seven minutes into the third period, New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba laid a massive hit on Montreal Canadiens defenceman Justin Barron, who was attempting to carry the puck into his opponent's zone. Trouba appeared to catch Barron in the head, with the Canadiens blueliner also hitting his head on the ice after falling down.

Barron was down for quite a while as the Canadiens' athletic trainer came onto the ice to attend to him. Meanwhile, Barron's defensive partner Mike Matheson stood up for his teammate, dropping the mitts with Jacob Trouba shortly after the hit. Barron would leave the game and did not return.

After the dust settled, Mike Matheson was handed a two-minute minor for instigating, a five-minute major for fighting and a ten-minute misconduct, while Jacob Trouba received five-minutes for a fighting and surprisingly, no penalty for the hit on Barron.

During his media availability following the 7-2 loss to New York, Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said that after watching replays of the hit, it was clear to him that the principal point of contact was Justin Barron's head.

Given that Jacob Trouba has a history of dangerous hits in his NHL career and has been suspended twice, it wouldn't be a shock to see the Department of Player Safety take a look at the play. However, because there wasn't a penalty called, it'll likely be hard to the DoPS to hand a suspension or fine to Jacob Trouba, despite it being a questionable hit and frankly a dangerous decision on his part.