Arber Xhekaj: only two penalty minutes in six games with the Rocket

Yesterday, Arber Xhekaj played his sixth game for the Rocket. He did so in a 3-2 win over the Crunch in Syracuse… and it was a good game for the Habs’ club-school.

The good thing is that, in the last few days, we’ve felt a progression on the part of the club-school. The Rocket lost Xhekaj’s first two games in the AHL(including the first, when the Ontarian didn’t perform well), but things have been looking up since then.

And while WiFi isn’t THE player responsible for everything, there’s no denying his impact.

Yesterday was a good example. He played police in front of his goalkeeper’s net and the defender wasn’t attacked. His opponent preferred to attack someone else to avoid facing the Sheriff.

This goes some way to explaining why Xhekaj has only been given two penalty minutes in six games… which is very little compared to his habits. Obviously, he’s feared and that’s part of the equation.

But his only two minutes, which came in a 7-1 thaw, also shows that he hasn’t often been caught cheating. And for a guy sent to the AHL to work on his defense, that’s good news.

Xhekaj, who has three assists in six games, has only two games in which he’s had a negative differential. We’re talking about his first game, which was horrible from an individual point of view, and the 7-1 loss to Laval last Saturday.

The other four games, with a young team that’s no AHL powerhouse? He’s not in the red. That’s positive, isn’t it?

Of course, with Jordan Harris expected to return to action at some point in Montreal and Gustav Lindstrom likely to return to the waivers (at least that’s a possibility), Xhekaj will have to work hard to earn an NHL call-up.

In bursts

– He needs to give more.

– It’s never easy.

– The case continues to be the talk of the town.

– The club needs to get back on its feet.

– Nothing less.