Arber Xhekaj faces punishment from the NHL Department of Player Safety after fighting Cedric Pare last night
It was an extremely difficult night for Montreal Canadiens fans, as they watched fifth overall pick David Reinbacher and superstar Patrik Laine suffer major injuries.
The man responsible for injuring Patrik Laine, who was acquired by the Montreal Canadiens from the Columbus Blue Jackets in August, was Toronto Maple Leafs depth AHL defenseman Cedric Pare - somebody who realistically had no business playing in a preseason game.
His dirty knee to knee hit might have ended Patrik Laine's season, and Montreal Canadiens enforcer defenseman Arber Xhekaj made sure he paid heavily for it, throwing several punches at him and throwing him down to the ice.
Arber Xhekaj was booted from the game, and has now been fined by the NHL's department of player safety.
He has received the maximum allowable fine by the NHL's department of player safety due to his actions. While Montreal Canadiens fans lauded him for his instinct to stand up for his teammate, which is what hockey is all about, some Toronto Maple Leafs fans believed he should have faced a massive 20+ game suspension.
The rivalry is clearly still strong between these two teams, but the pain of losing Patrik Laine will not go away any time soon. Hopefully neither David Reinbacher nor Patrik Laine are out long-term, but both injuries looked very bad.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 29 | 207 ANSWERS Arber Xhekaj faces punishment from the NHL Department of Player Safety after fighting Cedric Pare last night Do you think Cedric Pare should also face discipline from the NHL department of player safety? | ||
| Yes | 134 | 64.7 % |
| No | 73 | 35.3 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noel Acciari | - | - | - | |
| Mason Appleton | - | - | - | |
| Morgan Barron | - | - | - | |
| Anthony Beauvillier | - | - | - | |
| Sidney Crosby | - | - | - | |
| Dylan DeMelo | - | - | - | |
| Haydn Fleury | - | - | - | |
| Matthew Grzelcyk | - | - | - | |
| Connor Hellebuyck | - | - | - | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||