“He’s a hockey player, but he brings toughness,” head coach Martin St. Louis said. “He’s able to fight…that’s part of the game.”
![Arber Xhekaj of the Canadiens beat Zack Kassian of Arizona in the second period of a 6-2 win over the Coyotes Thursday night at the Bell Centre.](https://oponame.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Canadiens-Arber-Xhekaj-delivers-message-after-beating-Zack-Kassian.jpg)
Content of the article
One of the Canadiens’ weak spots last season came in a 7-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at the Bell Center in January.
Advertisement 2
Content of the article
With the Oilers already leading 5-1 late in the second period, Zack Kassian crushed goaltender Samuel Montembeault behind the Canadiens net. There was no reaction from the other five Canadiens players on the ice – Jeff Petry, Brett Kulak, Ryan Poehling, Mike Hoffman and Laurent Dauphin – when Kassian went to the penalty box for roughing it.
Content of the article
“Looking back on it, I didn’t see the actual hit,” Petry said after the game. “I just saw Monty fall. For me, it’s not a place to go and have to fight a guy like that. But I think thinking about it, replaying it in my head, you should at least get in front of him and have a word with him. I think that’s something that rests on me and the other guys on the ice too, you know – defend our teammates.
Advertisement 3
Content of the article
Michael Pezzetta dropped the gloves with Kassian during the third period of that game, but the Canadiens forward took a beating, ending up on the ice inside the Oilers net with Kassian pounding him with jabs left hand fist.
Advertisement 4
Content of the article
The Canadiens lost their next two games – 6-3 to the Columbus Blue Jackets and 7-1 to the New Jersey Devils – before head coach Dominique Ducharme was fired. The Canadiens were 8-30-7 at the time.
The Canadiens improved after Martin St. Louis took over, going 14-19-4 with him behind the bench, but they still finished with the worst record in the NHL. As a team, the Canadians could still be intimidated. There was a late season game in New Jersey in which the Devils were targeting Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield and it was Chris Wideman – all 5ft 10in and 180lbs of him – who came to their defense.
Advertisement 5
Content of the article
Thursday night, Kassian was back at the Bell Center as a member of the Arizona Coyotes. Early in the first period, he took a run on Canadiens defenseman Jordan Harris, who managed to turn away from Kassian and the Coyotes forward took the worst of the collision.
Later in the first period, 6-foot-4, 238-pound Arber Xhekaj dropped the gloves with Kassian, who is 6-foot-3, 211 pounds.
It was a heavyweight fight. According to hockeyfights.com, this was Kassian’s 38th career NHL fight. It was Xhekaj’s first NHL fight and he beat Kassian, who was ridiculed at the end with his jersey thrown over his head.
In his first five games with the Canadiens, Xhekaj has proven he can play in the NHL and isn’t just a badass, averaging 15:07 of ice time while scoring a helper and displaying a plus/minus differential of plus-1 . But he also demonstrated that Canadians will no longer be pushed around and intimidated by players like Kassian. The video of Xhekaj’s beating of Kassian is sure to make the rounds for other NHL teams.
Advertising 6
Content of the article
Head coach Martin St. Louis spoke with Xhekaj and told him he doesn’t have to fight to stay in the NHL and has to pick his spots when he drops the gloves.
“He’s a hockey player, but he brings toughness,” St. Louis said after the game. “He’s able to fight…it’s part of the game.
Advertising 7
Content of the article
“I think we adopted a pack mentality,” St. Louis added of his team. “I think we take care of each other and I know we have guys who can sort things out if they need to be sorted. But it’s a pack mentality and I like that as a group.
Early in the second period, the Canadiens’ Juraj Slafkovsky was carrying the puck into the offensive zone when Coyotes defenseman Josh Brown hit the No. 1 draft pick hard at the blue line. After the puck entered the corner, Xhekaj moved out of position and skated hard after Brown, hammering him into the boards. A loose puck was created from the hit and Slafkovsky ended up scoring his first NHL goal.
Xhekaj recorded 17:40 of ice time during the game and had a real impact with three shots and three hits, while Kassian had a team-low 9:52 ice time.
Advertising 8
Content of the article
“I just see what I can do with the big boys,” Xhekaj said of his fight with Kassian. “I was in the OHL last year and those guys aren’t that old, don’t have a lot of (fighting) experience. But seeing how I can deal with them and it went pretty well, so that was good.
“Our coaches said if someone challenges you, be calm,” Xhekaj added. “Do it on your terms. It was in my head: I can’t lose this fight.
He won it hands down.
“I’m here to try and make a name for myself and show that I’m going to stand up for my team and I’m tough and maybe they’ll think twice about leading our guys,” Xhekaj said.
This message was sent loud and clear.
-
Arber Xhekaj of the Canadiens inflicts a penalty on the blue line | HI/O bonus
-
Stu Cowan: Memorable night for Canadiens rookie Juraj Slafkovsky
-
Stu Cowan: There’s a new sheriff in town for Canadians
#Canadiens #Arber #Xhekaj #delivers #message #beating #Zack #Kassian