On Tuesday night, Jacob Trouba of the New York Rangers delivered another contentious blow, this one to Justin Barron of the Montreal Canadiens. Some have questioned the legality of the most recent hit’s cleanliness, citing Trouba’s history of hard checks as justification. Others have argued that the hit was reasonably clean and was within the NHL’s permitted check definition. Barron was carrying the puck quickly down the left side of the ice during the Rangers vs. Canadiens game on October 22. Barron appeared to be trying to centre the puck at the Rangers’ blue line as he entered their zone, but Trouba crashed in, striking Barron trying in the chest and driving upwards with force.
The hit resulted in a physical incident between Trouba and Mike Matheson, who entered the game to defend his fallen friend. At the time, the Rangers were ahead 5-2 halfway through the third period. Barron was declared out for the rest of the evening and went straight to the team’s dressing room after lying at the Rangers blue line and being unable to get up. The Canadiens training staff helped him off. The Canadiens had to play without both Matheson and Barron for the rest of the game after Matheson received a five-minute major for the altercation, a two-minute instigator penalty, and a 10-minute misconduct.
At the time, the Rangers were leading 5-2 midway through the third period, and the hit led to a physical altercation between Trouba and Mike Matheson who came in to defend his fallen comrade.
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.
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 left the principal contract 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 games played for the Canadiens over parts of five seasons. He was the 25th overall pick by the Colorado Avalanche back in 2020.
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