BPM Sports Radio asks listeners this morning if the Montreal Canadiens should dress Arber Xhekaj on Tuesday night since Matt Rempe and the New York Rangers will be in town.
For the first time since the start of the season on Saturday night, the Montreal Canadiens didn't dress resident tough guy Arber Xhekaj. In the days before the tilt with the New York Islanders, it became clear that coach Martin St-Louis felt the rugged defenseman struggled with giving him a consistent performance.
Xhekaj has had a rough time since the start of training camp, getting thrown out of two games and struggling to find the line not to cross to stay in games. He looked hesitant and not quite sure how he should act and what was expected of him. As a result, in every game, his ice time has suffered. Even when the Canadiens played short a blueliner, his ice time has been minimal.
On Saturday night, as he sat in the press box, Jayden Struble took his spot on the third pairing, and much like Xhekaj, he received around 14 minutes of ice time. Struble didn't look bad in his season debut, but he wasn't extraordinary either. He blocked three shots, landed two hits, and finished the night with a minus-one rating. It was nothing to write home about, but nothing that would justify taking him out of the lineup.
This morning, BPM Sports radio asks if Xhekaj should get back in the lineup since the New York Rangers are coming to town on Tuesday with tough guy Matt Rempe. The simple answer, at least for me, is no.
The Rangers have played five games so far this season, and Rempe has been a healthy scratch in three of them. In his first game against Utah Hockey Club, he skated for 3:40, and in his second against the Toronto Maple Leafs, he saw 7:37 of action. In one game, he landed two hits, and in the other three, he wasn't much of a factor.
If St-Louis wants to run his team on merit, taking Struble out of the lineup just because Rempe comes to town would be a mistake. Today's practice at the Bell Centre, scheduled at 10:30, should at least give us an indication of what's likely to happen lineup-wise.
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