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Canadiens Postgame

Habs Highlights: Xhekaj Fights Rempe, Canadiens Resiliency

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montreal canadiens juraj slafkovsky

The Montreal Canadiens hosted the New York Rangers on Sunday night, the second leg of back-to-back games at the Bell Centre.

Coming off a frustrating loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, Montreal was looking to regain the momentum they had established in late December.

There was a fresh face in the lineup, as Owen Beck was recalled from the Laval Rocket prior to puck drop. He replaced Michael Pezzetta, lining up on the fourth line alongside Jake Evans and Joel Armia.

The Canadiens played well, but faced four different one-goal deficits, overcoming them with their usual dose of resilience that has powered their recent surge up the standings. A late goal pushed the game to overtime, where Patrik Laine scored his fourth goal in five games, earning a 5-4 win for the Habs.

Let’s dive into the highlights!

Rocky Start

The Rangers only took five shots in the first period, and yet they still managed to score twice, but you’d be hard-pressed to suggest Jakub Dobes was at fault for either goal.

The first goal took place after a weird bounce led to the puck landing on Alexis Lafreniere’s stick, while the second was on the heels of a giveaway by Arber Xhekaj, who was given no outlet options by his forwards, as they had already started flying the zone.

Fortunately for Dobes, Brendan Gallagher managed to put the Canadiens on the board by doing what he does best, outworking a much bigger opponent in a prime scoring area. It was Gallagher’s 11th goal of the season, and his first since December 29.


Gallagher would go on to assist on Christian Dvorak’s second period goal, which tied the game for a brief moment. It was just Dvorak’s fourth goal of the year. It was a rather lucky play, but the Habs were owed a little luck considering how the Rangers scored their first two goals.


Fight Night

All eyes were on Arber Xhekaj and attempted hockey player Matt Rempe, as both players met at centre ice prior to puck drop to discuss their inevitable fight.

They weren’t the only players who engaged in physical play, as Josh Anderson tussled with Brandon Schneider, while the rest of the players on the ice delivered as many hits as they could whenever the opportunity arose.

Xhekaj was caught off-guard at the start of the fight, but he recovered nicely to earn a clear win over his bigger opponent. And let’s be clear, there was only one hockey player involved in that fight, and he wasn’t wearing a Rangers jersey.

I do feel bad for Rempe, to a certain extent. He’s a media creation who looks incredibly awkward every time he fights. I’m yet to see him win a fight, either, but it’s clear that fighting is the only thing keeping him in the NHL for a few minutes every odd night. His skating is also rather poor, giving all his opponents an edge when the fight gets underway.

Quick Thinking

Once the temperature cooled a little, the hockey picked up, leading to Nick Suzuki’s 14th goal of the year. It was a good example of what good anticipation and positioning can do on the forecheck.

With the goal, Suzuki maintained his point-per-game pace, while also extending his scoring streak to three games.

Exciting Finish

With the game 4-3 in favour of the Rangers, defenceman Lane Hutson did what he does best, quickly driving the play up the ice to generate a high-danger scoring chance.

This time around it was Juraj Slafkovsky who finished the play, not to mention ate a little iron for his efforts. As a reminder, the talk of Slafkovsky’s ‘terrible season’ has been overblown significantly. That being said, he will have to score more often, and Sunday was a good start.

With the assist, Hutson extended his point streak to eight games, the first Habs rookie to do so since forward Stephane Lebeau (1989-90).

The play secured at least one point for the Habs, a fitting situation as they were clearly the better team on Sunday.

The goal set-up yet another Laine scoring play, and if we’re being honest, Laine’s powerplay goal was even more fitting than the tying goal by Slafkovsky. Montreal deserved two points, there’s no way around it.

The Montreal Canadiens are back in action on Tuesday, facing the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Bell Centre (7 pm ET). All Montreal Canadiens statistics are 5v5 unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.

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