Peter Laviolette Defends Jacob Trouba About Controversial Hit On Justin Barron

Jacob Trouba caused a big stir when he hit Justin Barron during the New York Rangers’ game against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night.

Trouba checked Barron in the upper chest area as he fell to the ice and was on the ice in pain for several seconds before going to the locker room.

Following the game, Candiens’ coach Martin St. Louis was not happy with the hit and felt the head was the main point of contact.

“When I saw the replay I found the principal point of contact was the head,” St. Louis said after the game.

Meanwhile, Peter Laviolette has a much different take on the incident as he came to Trouba’s defense after Thursday’s practice.

“I think it was a single hit inside the game,” Laviolette said. “Trouba is a hard-nosed defenseman. I looked at the hit a bunch of times and I thought it was a good hit. I thought he took him right through the body. Nobody likes to see anybody get hurt. Hopefully it’s not anything that’s long term.”

Trouba will reportedly not receive any supplemental discipline for his hit according to ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski.

Barron has been listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury, so it doesn't appear that the young defenseman will miss any substantial time from this.