The Rangers’ Jacob Trouba scarily diving headfirst into the boards became an instant meme

This could have gone so badly, but instead, it became meme.

Jacob Trouba has been known to throw a big hit or two … and sometimes one that isn’t legal.

The New York Rangers captain tried to get Marty Necas in Tuesday night’s double-overtime thriller in Game 2 of their playoff series, but Necas somehow ducked down and hit the ice before Trouba could nail him … and Trouba tripped over his body and went full horizontal into the boards.

Trouba was OK and played the rest of the game, but the move caught everyone’s eye on X (formerly Twitter) and became an instant meme.

Here’s a sampling from that dangerous play that could have been worse: