Canadiens beat Maple Leafs 4-2 after Xhekaj penalty controversy, Digi Mart USA News: While Kirby Dach was dealing with three opponents in a scrum that broke out after contact on Jake McCabe in front of the net, Arber Xhekaj was defending himself on the other side. Only Xhekaj was targeted and sent to the penalty box by officials, even though Dach absorbed several solid punches.
At that point Montreal led 3-0, but William Nylander scored on the power play that followed, and the Maple Leafs gained momentum from there, cutting the deficit to 3-2. Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis did not hide his skepticism about the officials’ decision after the game.
“I feel bad for Jacko, because I don’t think that’s a penalty,” St-Louis said. “The referees have a difficult job, they see the action at real speed, but when you look at the replays, I felt bad for him because I think he was simply trying to finish his play.
We almost killed the penalty, but they scored and that gave them momentum. But I liked our response, and then we went and got a big goal on the power play to regain our distance.”
Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki also questioned the call. “I didn’t understand the need to give a penalty to Xhekaj, especially when we have three players in the scrum and they have five,” Suzuki said.
“I think both teams should have received the same number of penalties on the sequence.”
Xhekaj’s penalty came days after a game against the Jets in which Montreal squandered a 4-0 lead on Tuesday. That comeback was the latest in NHL history (57:21) after a four-goal deficit, and Xhekaj and his brother Florian had both fought in the third period, with the Jets saying the fights had fueled their motivation.
Coach St-Louis backed Xhekaj’s conduct in that sequence. Gavin McKenna cut the margin to 3-2 with his sixth goal of the season, and Toronto scored a second goal in less than two minutes.
Zachary Bolduc restored a two-goal cushion for Montreal with a strong one-timer that made it 4-2. “It was important.
It gave us a slightly thicker cushion. You have a bit of a sense of déjà vu when they scored twice in the third period.
Having lived it less than a week ago, I feel like we reacted a bit differently and that allowed us to leave this game with the win,” Bolduc said.
Jacob Fowler was also credited for a solid performance in net, making key saves late in the game. “We’re building on something and we want to take a step forward,” Bolduc added.
