Rangers’ Jacob Trouba fined $5,000 for elbowing Panthers’ Evan Rodrigues

The on-ice leader for the New York Rangers has to pay a fee for his actions.

On Monday, the National Hockey League Department of Player Safety announced that Rangers captain Jacob Trouba has been fined $5,000 for elbowing Florida Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues.

The fine is the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement. The money will be inserted into the players’ assistance fund.

The incident happened late during the second period of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final. Rodrigues was trying to cut around Trouba and get to the Rangers’ net, but the Rochester, Michigan native clearly hit Rodrigues in the head with his elbow, leaving the Panthers player down on the ice for a few minutes.

The play was reviewed to determine if it was a major penalty, but the call was reduced to two minutes. Trouba was also handed a minor penalty on the play for slashing Sam Bennett. The Panthers failed to score on the four-minute power play. Instead, Barclay Goodrow scored shorthanded for the Rangers.

New York went on to win the game, 5-4, in overtime. The Rangers now lead the best-of-seven, 2-1, with Game 4 in Sunrise set for 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

This is not the first time Trouba has been fined this season, let alone in his career. Back in November, Trouba was fined $5,000 for high-sticking Boston Bruins forward Trent Frederic. Trouba was also suspended for two games in late January for elbowing Pavel Dorofeyev of the Vegas Golden Knights.

In his 11-year NHL career, Trouba has been suspended twice and fined three times.

In 13 games so far in these playoffs, the 30-year-old has a goal and six assists. This after a regular season which saw Trouba pot three goals and 22 points in 69 games. In 70 career playoff games, he has notched four goals and 15 assists. In 748 regular-season games, Trouba has registered 73 goals and 309 points.