Arber Xhekaj (again) left out: Martin St-Louis’ decision is hard to understand

Marc-Olivier Cook
Arber Xhekaj (again) left out: Martin St-Louis’ decision is hard to understand
Credit: Getty Images

The Canadiens prepare for tonight's game.

The (very) surprising Buffalo Sabres will be visiting the Bell Centre: Martin St-Louis' men will be looking for their 29th win of the season, but the task doesn't necessarily look easy.

As we saw in the last game between the two clubs, after all. The Sabres can't be taken lightly…

There will be no changes – apart from in front of the net – in the Canadiens' line-up for tonight's game. Jakub Dobes will make way for Samuel Montembeault, but otherwise, the lineup will be the same as the team's last game.

This means that the Sheriff, Arber Xhekaj, will again be left out(as was the case on Tuesday night). And like Georges Laraque, I'm having trouble understanding Martin St-Louis's decision.

I have a hard time understanding Martin St-Louis' decision because Xhekaj has been playing good hockey lately.

He's solid in his zone, he makes good decisions with the puck, and he uses his body to create things on the ice. He's hitting the opposition the way he's so good at doing, and that makes him really useful in the lineup.

And it's not as if Jayden Struble was really excellent on Tuesday against the Wild either. If the coach wants to go on merit, Arber should play tonight against the Sabres…

Did we want to leave Xhekaj out because the Sabres have a fast club that can skate?

Or did we leave Struble in the lineup because the Canadiens are trying to showcase him?

In my opinion, it's one of these two options. Because that's all that makes sense to me. We've been on Xhekaj's back when he wasn't playing well, but he's been showing really good things for a while now and he deserves to play.

All that to say, I don't understand the coach's decision.


Overtime

– Yes.

– Love this.

– I don't know about you, but… I'm not feeling it tonight.

– Well done.

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