In the moment, Martin Necas didn't even know what happened.

The Carolina Hurricanes winger entered the attacking zone in the first overtime period last night at MSG, and as he went to curl up, he saw New York Rangers' captain Jacob Trouba barreling towards him.

Necas pulled up, falling in the process, which may have saved his season as he dropped just under the flying elbow that came his way and Trouba went face-first into the boards.

"In the moment, I didn't even see what happened," Necas said Wednesday afternoon. "I saw it on a replay after the game. I mean it's whatever. Good for him, he ran into the boards head first.

"Good to dodge the hit as it probably wouldn't have ended well, but I'm here, it's fine."

Not only had Trouba tried to run Necas through the boards, he also fully extended his elbow, missing the Czech wingers head by barely an inch. 

It's a play that if it had connected, would have made both players more than likely miss the remainder of the series. 

Necas with a concussion and Trouba with a suspension.

"Elbow me in the head, I guess," Necas said when asked what he thought Trouba's intentions were. "Maybe he was protecting himself from going into the boards, but he knows. He knows. Everyone knows what kind of player he is. I mean good for him. Nothing happened. We're all good and I'm excited for the next game." 

Another player who's quite familiar with Trouba's antics is Seth Jarvis who absorbed a hit to the head from the defender in the Canes' 2021 second round series.

Jarvis would not return to that game or series and has stated that he has nor recollection of the play or anything after it. 

In addition, Jarvis suffered from headaches and other concussion symptoms for multiple months afterwards.

"That was something," Jarvis said in regards to the hit. "I'm just glad Necas got away. That could have been a little scary for him. I've been on the receiving end of that and I don't remember it. It's not something I want to see any of my friends go through."

Trouba is a physical player who plays hard.

"If he hits me and it's a clean hit, then nobody's got a problem with it," Necas said.

But the New York captain tows the line and more often than not, crosses it as high, explosive hits are par for the course with him.

However, much like the rest of his team, Necas isn't one to dwell on the past and he's already looking ahead to defending home ice in Game 3.

"He didn't even hit me so nothing happened. We're past that. Onto the next game."

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