Just two minutes into the game, the Rangers captain dropped the gloves with Montreal’s Josh Anderson in a heated bout that echoed the growing frustrations around the team and Trouba in particular.

NHL fans reacted to the Saturday fight between Montreal Canadians winger Josh Anderson and New York Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba.

The last time the Habs and Rangers met, Jacob Trouba was in the news for a borderline hit on Justin Barron. The latter had suffered a concussion. The two clubs crossed swords again this afternoon… and we wondered if someone was going to send Trouba a message.

Jacob Trouba lit a fire into the New York Rangers early on in their Saturday afternoon game against the Montreal Canadiens. In the first period, Trouba fought Josh Anderson as the two were throwing punches at each other for well over 30 seconds.

Captain Jacob Trouba, who has struggled of late and recently heard his name in trade rumors for the second time in six months, fought Montreal’s Josh Anderson early in Saturday’s game. The Canadiens presumably wanted New York’s captain to answer the bell for a hit he made earlier this season on Justin Barron, and he obliged.

Fans reacted as New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba dropped the gloves against the Montreal Canadiens' Josh Anderson on Saturday afternoon.

At this point it’s hard to imagine things getting much worse for New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba. Trouba is not having a good season after being the subject of a big trade rumor over the summer and on Saturday afternoon things went from bad to worse for the Rangers captain.

There’s no doubt the Montreal Canadiens were aiming for retribution after New York Rangers captain Jacob Trouba delivered one of his many questionable hits in a previous game, and forward Josh Anderson wasted no time making it happen.

After their 4-3 win over the Canadiens, Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette and players talked the importance of Jacob Trouba's fight in the first period on Saturday.