With the Montreal Canadiens taking a 2-1 series lead over the Tampa Bay Lightning on the back of some incredible work by Lane Hutson, the plaudits are fairly directed at the Habs’ top defensive star. However, through three games it’s a surprising name who continues to tilt the ice in a big way, even in limited minutes.
Arber Xhekaj entered this series as a third-pairing defenceman, a role he’s mostly occupied this season, with its fair share of turbulent times that saw him out of the lineup. With Noah Dobson out and the young guns of David Reinbacher and Adam Engström not quite ready for post-season action yet, it was up to the pairing of Xhekaj and Jayden Struble to hold the line.
Through three games Xhekaj is doing much more than that. He’s not just treading water in his limited minutes, he’s thriving in a way that frees up other pairings.
SF/SA: shots for/against; GF/GA: goals for/against; xGF/xGA: expected goals for/against; SCF/SCA: scoring chances for/against | Credit: Natural Stat Trick
Through three games with Xhekaj on the ice at five-on-five, the Canadiens are steadily creating more shots, and in Game 3 Xhekaj didn’t even allow a shot against. His pairing is creating more in expect goals, limiting Tampa to less than 20% of xGF through three games.
It’s not just that he’s winning his shifts, it’s that he’s dominating them in many aspects. While facing mostly the bottom six along with the second and third pairings, he is handily tilting the ice in favour of the Canadiens. Having Xhekaj and Struble win those matchups allows Martin St-Louis to find ways to free up Lane Hutson and the offensive players for more offensive-zone shifts.
CF/CA: Corsi (shot attempts) for/against; FF/FA: Fenwick (unblocked shot attempts) for/against | Credit: Natural Stat Trick
Perhaps the most impressive thing we’ve seen from Xhekaj in this series is that he is totally in control of what’s happening after the whistle. One of the biggest pitfalls of Xhekaj’s young NHL career has been being unable to extract himself from situations that end up with him getting extra penalty minutes for his trouble.
Against Tampa Bay, in every scrum he is just happy to grab a guy, exchange some pleasantries, and leave while they try to get him to take the extra minor penalty. Even with Scott Sabourin being on the ice to cause problems, Xhekaj is happy to walk away while the Lightning unravel in a seething rage.
The Canadiens are not up 2-1 in this series solely because of Xhekaj, however he’s playing the role the Canadiens needed him to. Marc Bergevin famously said there are guys who get you to the playoffs, and guys who help get you through the playoffs, and Xhekaj is fitting the latter description.
After a tough regular season, the Arber Xhekaj renaissance could not have arrived at a better time for Montreal.