Hurricanes star takes dig at Rangers captain after Game 2 near miss
Apparently Martin Necas wasn’t as thrilled with Jacob Trouba flying through the air on an attempted hit during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Second Round as others who made the play go viral on social media.
The incident in question took place in the first overtime of the New York Rangers’ 4-3 double-OT win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday. The Rangers captain lined up the Hurricanes forward looking to make a big hit, and instead went flying into the glass after Necas pulled up and ducked under Trouba.
The Rangers defenseman completely missed Necas, though his skate did hit him on the helmet at the end of the sequence. Each player was lucky to come away unscathed. Trouba certainly could have been injured going head first into the glass; and Necas could’ve been hurt in a myriad of different ways, either from Trouba’s body on impact or by his skate afterward.
When asked about Trouba’s intent Wednesday, Necas managed to toss in a dig.
“Elbow me in the head, I guess,” Necas said. “Maybe he was protecting himself from going into the boards, but he knows. He knows. Everyone knows what kind of player he is. I mean good for him. Nothing happened. We’re all good and I’m excited for the next game.”
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In the immediate aftermath, Necas was clearly not happy. On Wednesday, he was more matter of fact about what happened.
“In the moment, I didn’t even see what happened,” Necas explained. “I saw it on a replay after the game. I mean it’s whatever. Good for him, he ran into the boards head first. Good to dodge the hit as it probably wouldn’t have ended well, but I’m here, it’s fine.”
As for fans on social media, they had a field day reposting video of Trouba flying through the air and thudding into the glass. There were a string of memes that came out of the play, as well.
The near-crushing hit was part of a spirited clash between two of the League’s best teams Tuesday. Carolina forward Andrei Svechnikov nearly started a riot when he tripped Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin behind the net in the first period, and shortly after, Matt Rempe made sure to gently bump in to Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen at the whistle.
Cross words were exchanged throughout the intense game, including an exchange caught on ESPN between former Rangers teammates Tony DeAngelo and K’Andre Miller. Vincent Trocheck and Jake Guentzel were jawing all night, including a funny moment when Trocheck gave the thumbs up to Guentzel, who was sitting in the penalty box after negating a Hurricanes power play by punching Adam Fox. Earlier DeAngelo took a minor penalty for blasting Will Cuylle with a high hit.
As for Trouba, he had an active night. He led all skaters with nine blocked shots and six hits, and was assessed three minor penalties, logging 26:06 in ice time. Necas, who scored a goal in Game 1, had three shots on goal and 11 shot attempts playing 25:06 in Game 2.
The Rangers are up 2-0 in the best-of-7 series and will visit the Hurricanes in Game 3 down in Raleigh on Thursday.
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