Arber Xhekaj picks up his first Rocket point in defeat

After a rather disappointing first game with the Rocket for Arber Xhekaj, he made his mark in a much better way on Friday night against the Hartford Wolf Pack. The highlight of the game was his first career point in the American Hockey League.

On Friday morning, we learned that the Sheriff had the chance to play on Laval’s first defensive pair alongside Logan Mailloux.

Arber Xhekaj will play alongside Logan Mailloux tonight → https://t.co/jQq4RMXUOC

– DansLesCoulisses (@DLCoulisses) December 8, 2023

Even better for Xhekaj, he gained the confidence of his coach Jean-François Houle, who played him on the power play. The defenseman needed less than four minutes to feed Philippe Maillet, who unleashed a perfect shot to open the scoring.

To see Xhekaj’s first point from another angle
To see Xhekaj’s first point as a Rocket #GoRocket https://t.co/ab4btsLLmO pic.twitter.com/VbXotSYpWX

– Rocket de Laval (@RocketLaval) December 9, 2023

It’s far from the pass of the year, but it’s the kind of play he can create. A simple but effective pass that can lead to a goal.

You can already see an improvement in his game and in his will. Even Stéphane Leroux of RDS has noticed!

“Arber Xhekaj is much more involved in this game than he was on Wednesday.” – Stéphane Leroux during the third period

Fans held their breath late in the first period, however, when Xhekaj retreated to the dressing room with an injury. Fortunately, it wasn’t his shoulder yet, but his hand.

RDS did a good job finding the play where he got hurt. Puck to the hand.

Seems fine now. pic.twitter.com/DQG82Q1xob

– Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) December 9, 2023

On the sequence, he appears to injure his hand when it is hit by a shot from an opposing player. However, Xhekaj returned to action early in the second period and was able to finish the game.

Despite all this, the Rocket still lost to Hartford 4-3 in a shootout. It was a ninth straight defeat for the Laval outfit.

Arber Xhekaj and the Rocket will have a chance to make up for lost time on Saturday, when they face the Wolf Pack in Laval.

Breaking news

– Magnificent.

KHL goalie, Vlad Podyapolsky’s mask might be one of the best we’ve seen. Thoughts?

: @khl_eng pic.twitter.com/GZO0cBs3Ps

– BarDown (@BarDown) December 9, 2023