SUNRISE, Fla. — Paul Maurice gave perhaps the best response when asked about the $5,000 fine levied against Rangers captain Jacob Trouba on Monday afternoon after he delivered a dangerous elbow to Florida forward Evan Rodriguez in Game 3.
“Turn your hat around,” the Panthers head coach joked. “Poor kid. Poor Jake. He’s not gonna be able to eat.”
Not only is it a fitting response from a disciplinary system that believes a 0.06 percent fine on Trouba’s $8 million salary will deter the hard-hitting blue-lineman from taking the open-ice hits he’s so good at, but it’s also a minor punishment in an Eastern Conference finals series that featured bad play from both teams.
Trouba didn’t say much about the fine, other than to say he and the Rangers will move on to Game 4 on Tuesday night at Amerant Bank Arena.
Asked about his thought process going into the play, Trouba didn’t go into much detail about how Rodriguez extended his elbow as he backhanded the puck past the 30-year-old, but most of the contact occurred on the Panthers forward’s backside.
“He went over to the middle. It all happens pretty fast,” Trouba said. “It’s not something you think about a thousand times. It just happens pretty fast. That’s hockey. I can’t explain it.”
This series will be a tightrope walk for the Rangers as they try to maintain a physical presence while staying disciplined. The Blueshirts were called for six penalties in Game 3, half of which were on Trouba, including two in one shift in the second period that featured the now-infamous elbow.
The Rangers are yet to score a power-play goal in their first three games, making staying outside the penalty area even more important.
“We have to play physical, but the last thing we want is to get six penalties,” Trouba said. “They had a good power play. Discipline is definitely something we need to get better at. I need to get better at it, too. But we definitely want to play a hard, physical game. That’s what makes us a strong team.”
Countering Florida’s hard-nosed play will be key for any team hoping to topple the 2023 Stanley Cup runner-up, but the Rangers must consider the possibility of taking penalties in certain situations.
When the Rangers do it, it’s obvious it stands out, because the Panthers play with fury and sharpness every shift. Plus, one of their most physical players, Matt Rempe, is hard to miss at 6-foot-8 ¹/₂.
“You want to see plays outside the box,” Laviolette said. “You want to see the opposite. You know? Any coach, right? Nobody likes those numbers outside the box. There are things we can do to play better outside the box. We’re playing this team, they’re aggressive, so I don’t know if we can get through the game without any penalty kills. There’s always a penalty kill, but we certainly need to limit and reduce them to give ourselves the best chance of success.”
