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Florian and Arber Xhekaj each score in the same minute

Since the beginning of the month, Arber Xhekaj has been on the move to Laval. He’s with the Rocket to work on certain aspects of his game and, above all, to become a better defender overall.

Xhekaj knows: he’s here to improve and, above all, to become a defenseman capable of playing 20 minutes a game in the NHL.

And while the Habs prospect looked like a deeply disinterested guy in his first few games in Laval, he seems to be getting comfortable these days. Today, for example, he was seen handling two opposing players in a scrum…

And fooling an opposing player with Logan Mailloux.

Xhekaj seems to be having fun again, and that’s great news.

But as well as getting his mojo back, Xhekaj is starting to rack up the points at a pretty interesting pace. Once again today, he found the back of the net with a good shot on the power play.

Incredibly, he’s now had four straight games with at least one point. He now has eight points (two goals) in 10 games.

What’s pretty special, though, is that he’s not the only player named Xhekaj who scored at exactly 4:11pm.

Because at the same time, his little brother Florian scored one in the OHL. That’s quite unusual.

The two brothers, who are both Canadian prospects, made their mother very proud.

And her mother, in fact, underlined this moment of success for her two children.

Getting back to the Rocket game, Laval won quite convincingly against the Crunch by a score of 4-1. In addition to Xhekaj, the other scorers were Sean Farrell, Jan Mysak and Joshua Roy.

Jakub Dobes, making his second start in three days, was solid, saving 25 of 26 shots.

The Rocket will enjoy a few days off before returning to action in 2024. Its next game is scheduled for January 5, and we’ll see whether Xhekaj will still be there or whether he’ll be recalled by the Canadiens.

I think he’ll stay in Laval, but we’ll have to wait and see.


In gusto

– Anthony Stolarz will face the Habs tonight.

– Samuel Girard will be back in action tomorrow.

– Connor Hellebuyck is on fire.

– Let’s hope he avoided the worst.

– It’s going to be a big game for Germany tomorrow.

– Still.

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