Trouba’s hit streak gives a boost
DENVER — Jacob Trouba wouldn’t say he’s consciously thinking about landing hits before a game even starts, but the way the Rangers’ defenseman has been playing surely has opponents thinking about it.
“I guess it is coincidence,” Trouba said after delivering a momentumshifting hit on Nashville’s Luke Kunin in the Rangers’ 1-0 loss Sunday night. “It’s just presented itself three games out of the last four, whatever it is. It’s not something I go to bed thinking about or think about before the game, I’m more worried about skating and moving my feet and all the other little things that go into my game. When the physicality is there, it’s there.”
Trouba has always been a physical competitor, but it’s reached a gamechanging level in recent matchups. After knocking out Jujhar Khaira in an unfortunate play in which the Blackhawks winger had his head down, and leveling the Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon the following game, Trouba laid out Kunin on Sunday night to keep the streak going.
The hits have been textbook shoulder-first checks, which force the Rangers’ opponents to be alert and aware of where Trouba is on the ice.
“Jake’s been doing that a lot for us lately,” Chris Kreider said. “It seems like those [hits] are perfectly timed. Maybe when we’re not playing as north-south as we should, not getting into bodies. It definitely gets the bench going when he steps up and hits someone as clean and as hard as that.
“He really epitomizes the way we want to play and he does it so consistently.”
➤ Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s games against the Avalanche and Coyotes, respectively, mark the Rangers’ sixth back-to-back set of the season. The Rangers are 3-1-1 in the first game and 2-2-1 in the second.
➤ The Rangers enter Tuesday’s game with wins in four straight road games and five of their last six.