Canadiens Analysis
GOTTA SEE IT: Patrik Laine Injured, Arber Xhekaj Retaliates
The Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs are longtime rivals, and that clearly extends to the preseason, as both teams engaged in nasty plays just five minutes into Saturday night’s matchup.
The first player to leave the game was David Reinbacher, though the play in which he was injured didn’t look particularly violent.
This didn’t look like a lot of contact, but Reinbacher left the game in a lot of pain after this play.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/oMgLy28Dfe
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) September 28, 2024
The real chaos started when minor-league defenceman Cedric Pare caught Canadiens forward Patrik Laine with an awful knee-on-knee as he gained the offensive zone. There was no call on the play, but you’d be hard-pressed to argue that wasn’t a textbook knee. The referee could have at least called a trip, or any other of the other penalties that qualified, but decided not to dust off his whistle.
There’s been no update yet from the Montreal Canadiens regarding the injury to Reinbacher or Laine, but judging by the impact Laine absorbed, there’s a decent likelihood this may end up being a pretty nasty injury in a meaningless game, the worst possible scenario for both the player and the team. It’s a terrible situation for a player who took all the right steps to return to the game he loved. Not only does he have to deal with a likely knee injury, his mental health will come into play, as being away from the game is the toughest thing for athletes to deal with throughout their careers. If he’s forced to miss any significant time hopefully he will be in good enough shape to be around the team, as Kirby Dach did last season while recovering from his season-ending injury.
Patrik Laine goes down after a knee-on-knee contact.
Doesn’t look good. He had to leave the game. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/cXrNTOzK4L
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) September 28, 2024
Unsurprisingly, the Canadiens didn’t take kindly to the ugly Laine injury as it was clearly a penalty, which led to defenceman Arber Xhekaj taking matters in his own hands by jumping Pare and giving him a six-piece combo. Xhekaj was rightfully thrown out of the game after being given 17 minutes worth of penalties, including a fighting major, an instigator minor, and a game misconduct.
Arber Xhekaj unloads on Pare after he injured Laine. #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/lq75y4fMmN
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) September 28, 2024
UPDATE: The Canadiens have confirmed both Laine and Reinbacher will not return to the game.
L’attaquant Patrik Laine et le défenseur David Reinbacher ne reviendront pas au jeu ce soir.
Forward Patrik Laine and defenseman David Reinbacher will not return to tonight’s game.
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 28, 2024
None of that looked good. Hope Laine is better than the optics, the injury looked bad , man the injury curse ughhh …
Xhekaj needs to get a grip. He had time to think about it, came on the ice and resorted to thuggery. I think fighting has a place in the game but goons be gone. That was a bully goon play from decades ago. Pare was plenty intimidated and the entire leaf bench knew there would be consequences but not that. Pare is not a fighter or dirty player judging by the fact that he never had more than 62pim in any year in junior or pro. I doubt he was thinking , hey I can make the nhl if I knee someone and injury them. Arber can challenge him and force him to answer one way or the other and both play well for us. But pounding an unwilling opponent is unacceptable, especially once he’s defenceless even with your glove on. I can’t see Marty being happy with his enforcer. I like Xhekaj, he adds important elements that provide us with competitive advantages, but that’s not it. Other teams can exploit that behaviour. It’s not like he needed to establish that he’s the sheriff, that’s well known, he has a big reputation.Part of his gig is to protect his teammates, especially if there is malice, which was not evident in this case. Anyway, I hope that’s the only time he does that.
What were you looking at?!? Pare CLEARLY stuck his knee out!
And for what? A meaningless exhibition game!
No one at the game would agree with you on Xhekaj!
We were at the game and believe me the cheers were deafening!
It’s not Arber’s fault Pare wasn’t man enough to fight after his clearly dirty play!
Remember last year Gally knew he had to answer for his hit to the head.
I’m proud of Arber for defending his teammate and I think MSL is too
I loved it as well but MSL has always tried to reign in Arber’s physicality. Suspension or not, he’s going to do time for this.
Pare is an absolute punk, and a poltroon to boot. Looks like he might have cried after Arber got to him.
So long. Farewell. We hardly knew ya. What a terrible situation for Laine and the team. The way he reacted on the ice and then down the hallway to the dressing room, I’d hypothesize it’s going to be really bad like Dach’s injury last year. I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s done for the season. I’m glad that Marc mentions his mental health in the article too. That was the first thing I said to my wife when they were helping him off the ice. It’s definitely a recipe to fall back into a depression, so the team will need to monitor him closely to ensure he doesn’t end up in a dark place. Such a shame. Then, throw in the Reinbacher injury, and what a way to start the season. Is it too early to start looking forward to a high draft pick already?