Rangers have to be aware of physical Jacob Trouba in first meeting since messy divorce

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— He has gone one-on-one with him before in battle drills and in full-ice scrimmages over his five seasons in the league.But Alexis Lafrenière has never before come up against Jacob Trouba for real.That will change when the Blueshirts face the Ducks and their former captain here on Friday, three-plus months following their messy and public divorce.“I know he’s physical, I know he likes to play hard, so if you always have to be aware if you’re out there against him,” No.

13 told The Post following Thursday’s practice in LA ahead of this matchup.“You don’t want to put yourself in a bad spot.“I’m going to play my game and be ready for him.”Trouba, who was traded to the Ducks on Dec.

6 for a fourth-rounder and defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, shared dinner with a number of his former teammates on Thursday, The Post learned.The former captain was extremely popular with his teammates during his five-plus season tenure that commenced in 2019-20.“He was great for me from the second I came onto the team,” said Lafrenière, a 2020-21 rookie following his first-overall selection the previous draft.

“He was one of the older guys who took me under his wing a little bit and helped me both on and off the ice.“He was like that for the four years-ish we were together.He was great to me.

For sure, we miss him but it’s going to be good to see him and play against him.“Weird, too,” said No.13.

“For sure.”The Rangers have lost four of their past five in regulation.They are 3-6-2 over their past 11 contests.

Anaheim is out of the playoff race, but they are also only four points behind the Blueshirts with a game in hand in the overall standings.The Ducks have gone 21-20-5 with Trouba in the lineup while the Rangers are 21-22-5 since the trade.The Ducks hammered the Bruins 6-2 on Wednesd...