Yes, Montreal Canadiens’ tough guy Arber Xhekaj can sometimes react in the heat and the moment and go about things the wrong way, but tonight, he did not. After Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier tried a questionable hit on open ice on Kirby Dach, the rugged defenseman invited him to dance.
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He then waited for Couturier to drop his gloves before dropping his own. He was about to get down to business when Nick Seeler flew in from his defense post and jumped on Xhekaj to pull him down on the ice.
As a result, no punch was thrown. Granted, there was no fight there so that I can understand no fighting major, but there would have been one had Seeler not flown into the rescue, and he would have been the third man. If the fact there was no fight is your logic to say he cannot be called the third man in, what is the logic for not giving him an unsportsmanlike conduct like Xhekaj got?
Related: Canadiens: About the Xhekaj Signing…
It makes no sense whatsoever and reminds me eerily of when Brendan Gallagher was starting out and had a reputation for interfering with the goalie. As soon as Gallagher would so much as breathe near a goaltender, the goals were waived off for goalie interference. Both situations are unfair and should not happen.
I don’t refrain from expressing my disapproval when The Sheriff goes about things the wrong way but on that sequence? He did everything perfectly and did not deserve to get the only penalty on the play putting his team on the penalty kill…ridiculous.
Related: Canadiens vs. Senators: Xhekaj Might Have Gotten Himself Out of the Running
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