New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba exited Wednesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning with an upper-body injury.
The injury occurred early in the first period, as the Rangers captain was playing the puck along the boards in New York's zone when Lightning winger Corey Perry went for the hit. The collision caused Trouba to fall awkwardly, with his face appearing to get a good portion of the impact.
Trouba left after just 2:41 of ice time over four shifts, with the only stat of note to his name being one hit taken — the same one from Perry that knocked him out of the game. The Rangers were already up 1-0 during his final shift, and they scored again just four seconds after he left the ice to make it 2-0.
The Rangers had already been playing with seven defenseman after the return of Ryan Lindgren and Patrick Kane being out for maintenance made them go with an 11-forward, seven-defenseman lineup, so the Rangers still have three full defensive pairs in Trouba’s absence for the game.
That said, it doesn’t replace Trouba’s impact, as he continues to be a strong top-four defenseman for the team, with it also being his first season as the captain of the Rangers. He’s had a slight step back offensively from last year, though, as he has eight goals, 22 assists and 30 points in 77 games. Even then, it’s still in the range of his usual production.
Going into Wednesday’s game, the Rangers already had their playoff spot locked up, sitting in third in the Metropolitan Division with a 45-21-11 record. They were five points behind the New Jersey Devils for second place with five games remaining, so there’s a strong chance that third is as high as they get this season.
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