Jacob Trouba of the New York Rangers was involved in another contentious hit on Tuesday night, this time on Montreal Canadiens defenceman Justin Barron. While some argue that the hit was generally clean and within the definition of an allowed check by NHL regulations, others have utilized Trouba’s past and hard hits to call into doubt the legitimacy of this most recent hit.
During the game between the Rangers and Canadiens on Oct. 22, Barron was coming down the left side of the ice carrying the puck with speed. As he entered the Rangers’ zone, it looked as though Barron was attempting to centre the puck right at the Rangers’ blue line when Trouba came flying in hitting Barron in the chest and driving upwards with force.
Barron laid at the Rangers blue line unable to get up right away and was helped off by the Canadiens training staff, before being declared out for the remainder of the night and heading straight into the team’s dressing room.
Jacob Trouba catches Justin Barron with a hit and Mike Matheson drops the gloves with him right after. pic.twitter.com/ZEA7LYrQqo
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 23, 2024
Matheson was assessed a two-minute instigator penalty, a 10-minute misconduct, plus the five-minute major for the fight and the Canadiens were forced to play without both Matheson and Barron for the remainder of the game.
As for an update on Barron, there was no immediate update following the game. However, head coach, Martin St. Louis, did state that he felt the principle point of contact was, in fact, Barron’s head and that there wasn’t any further update on his status at that time.
Barron has 13 goals and 31 points in 101 Canadiens games, spanning portions of five seasons. He was the Colorado Avalanche’s 25th overall pick in 2020.
