Trouba narrowly escapes being paralyzed after hit attempt goes wrong

New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba almost caused a serious injury to himself and Carolina Hurricanes forward Martin Necas after attempting to throw a massive hit.

Minutes into overtime between the Rangers and Hurricanes in Game 2, Necas skated down the wing into the Rangers' zone when Trouba, as he has done throughout his career, attempted to land a massive hit on him. Necas lost an edge as Trouba attempted to throw the hit, sending the Rangers' captain head first and awkwardly into the boards, bending his neck backwards. At the same time, with Necas falling, Trouba stuck out his elbow and tried to make some sort of contact with Necas, but thankfully the elbow missed his head completely.


As Trouba landed from the impact with the boards, his skate smacked Necas in the back of the head, avoiding another significant injury. Had it been the blade of the skate instead of the boot, the result could have been catastrophic.

Should there have been a penalty on the play?

Many debated online whether Trouba should have been given a penalty for attempt to injure on the play or if supplemental discipline is warranted. Others wonder whether Necas ducking/sliding to avoid the hit that close to the boards was worthy of some attention.

Some of you may question the attempt to injure debate, but a player can be assessed a match penalty for it even if there is no contact made with the player, it is simply the intent and in this case, the chicken wing elbow from Trouba is evidence of that.

Regardless, both players are okay and the Rangers ended up winning the game and taking a 2-0 series lead.