Major: Arber Xhekaj taught the Maple Leafs a valuable lesson without even playing against them
On Tuesday night, in the matchup between the Canadiens and the Lightning, Arber Xhekaj dropped the gloves against the colossus Tanner Jeannot. For a rare occasion, the defenseman seemed to lose the fight, but upon closer inspection, he simply lost his balance.
The reason is quite simple; he was exhausted. Number 72 was at the end of his shift and had just executed a big defensive play. However, his young friend Juraj Slafkovsky had just been slammed into the boards by Jeannot, so he couldn't let that go.
Montreal Canadiens beat reporter, Priyanta Emrith, explained the situation well. While some Canadiens fans and fans of other teams criticize Xhekaj, she reminds everyone that the Canadiens have a gem on their hands:
"Anyone criticizing #Habs Arber Xhekaj for his fight with Tanner Jeannot need to give their head a shake. Yeah #72 isn't going to win every bout but the #LeafsForever literally had to hold a team meeting to address standing up for team-mates - the #GoHabsGo are lucky to have him."
- Priyanta Emrith
Regardless of his condition and the opponent in front of him, Xhekaj will send a message if he has to, and that's a credit to his character. The Maple Leafs have some valuable lessons to learn from this.
POLL |
In your opinion, did Arber Xhekaj do the right thing by dropping the gloves? |
Yes | 257 | 85.1 % |
No | 45 | 14.9 % |
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