Jacob Trouba suspended two games for illegal elbow, Rangers shake up lineup

OTTAWA, Ontario — The Rangers will be without their captain, Jacob Trouba, for the next two games. 

Trouba was suspended after having a phone hearing with the NHL Department of Player Safety on Saturday for an elbow he threw against Golden Knights forward Pavel Dorofeyev in the Rangers’ 5-2 loss at the Garden on Friday night. 

The play was not penalized during the game. 

“That’s a big piece on our back end,” head coach Peter Laviolette said of losing Trouba, who has three goals and 16 assists through 48 games, before the Rangers took a 7-2 win over the Senators.

“His leadership, his defense, his physicality. Plays against other teams top lines. That’s a piece that is missing. An opportunity for others to step up. 

“We’ll certainly miss him tonight [against Ottawa], but he’ll be back in a couple games.” 

Jacob Trouba, Rangers captain, has been suspended for two games due to an illegal elbow throw. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

As a result, Zac Jones drew back into the lineup for the first time since Jan. 20 and just the third time in the last 21 games.

Jones lined up alongside Erik Gustafsson, while K’Andre Miller skated next to Braden Schneider. 

Ryan Lindgren, who was knocked out of Friday night’s game in the first period following a hit into the boards by Vegas wing Keegan Kolesar, was considered to be a game-time decision Friday.

Despite taking the ice for warmups, Lindgren ultimately didn’t play and Connor Mackey got the call. 

Mackey replaced Lindgren on the left side of Adam Fox in his Rangers debut, which also counted as his first NHL game since April 13, 2023. 

Connor Mackey got the call up on Saturday after Trouba’s suspension. Getty Images

Trouba has been fined twice since he joined the Rangers ahead of the 2019-20 season.

After he was fined $5,000 — the maximum amount under the collective bargaining agreement — for slashing then-Blues defenseman Vince Dunn on Jan. 12, 2020.

Trouba was fined the same amount for high-sticking the Bruins’ Trent Frederic on Nov. 25, 2023. 

In 2017 with the Jets, Trouba was suspended two games and fined $33,333 for an illegal check to the head of then-Senators forward Mark Stone. 

Laviolette coached his 1,479th game, which tied him with Darryl Sutter for the ninth most in NHL history.

With Saturday night’s win, Laviolette tied Al Arbour for the seventh-most wins in NHL history by a head coach (782). 

The Rangers’ All-Star break begins Sunday.

While Igor Shesterkin and Vincent Trocheck are participating in the NHL’S All-Star weekend activities in Toronto, the rest of the team will have a few days off before returning to practice.

They’ll kick off the final 33 games of the season with home contests against the Avalanche on Feb. 5 and Lightning on Feb. 7.