Jacob Trouba's body blows a big hit with Rangers teammates

When Jacob Trouba dumped Predators forward Philip Tomasino to the ice in the first period of Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Nashville at the Garden, it marked the fourth game in a row that the Rangers defenseman had body-checked an opponent off his skates and onto the ice.

If Trouba were a baseball player, he’d be on a four-game hitting streak going into Tuesday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche in Denver.

It started with the frightening hit on Jujhar Khaira in Chicago that sent Khaira to the hospital and continued the next night with a thunderous blow on Colorado star Nathan MacKinnon. Two nights later, Trouba did it again in Buffalo, and on Sunday he blew up two guys, dropping Tomasino in the first period and Luke Kunin in the second.

"Troubs has been unbelievable,’’ his defense partner, K’Andre Miller, said Sunday. "He’s bringing a physical presence to his game every night. Guys are finding out they’ve got to keep their head up coming through the neutral zone.’’

Trouba’s hit on Kunin with 3:31 remaining in the second period got the Garden buzzing and got the fans chanting his name. Afterward, he joked that he couldn’t quite make out what the crowd was chanting.

"I thought they said ‘Igor,’ ’’ he said, referring to goalie Igor Shesterkin.

It wasn’t just the crowd that was charged up, though. The Predators tried to get Trouba to fight, but he wouldn’t, because the game was too tight. And the Rangers seemed to flick the switch and pick up their game at that point. They got four shots on goal the rest of the period and outshot Nashville 16-5 in the third period.

"It definitely gave us momentum,’’ goalie Alexandar Georgiev said of the hit on Kunin.

"Jake’s been doing that a lot for us lately,’’ forward Chris Kreider said. "It seems like those [hits] are just perfectly timed. Maybe when we’re not playing as north-south as we should, not getting into bodies. And yeah, it definitely gets the bench going when he steps up and hits someone as clean and as hard as that.’’

Trouba acknowledged there was "a little more energy in the building’’ after the hit on Kunin, but he said he isn’t looking to hit people in order to spark the team.

"I don’t go out looking for it,’’ he said. "It’s not something I would say I was going to look to change momentum or anything like that. You kind of take a hit when it comes. You don’t run around, don’t try to force it. It’s just part of the game.’’

Trouba said it probably was nothing more than coincidence that he landed three major hits— on Khaira, MacKinnon and Kunin — in a four-game span.

"I wouldn’t say I’m thinking about hitting people before the game starts,’’ he said. "I think it just presented itself three games over the last four, or whatever it is.

"It’s not something I go to bed thinking about or think about before the game. I’m more worried about skating and moving my feet and all the other little things that go into my game And when the physicality is there, it’s there.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.