Arber Xhekaj has been playing more confidently since scoring in two straight games on February 17 and 21. The colossus, by the way, turned heads by sending a puck at 107.2 miles per hour at the Canadian skills competition on Sunday.
However, things got off to a lesser start on Tuesday, from the initial throw-in, which Jake Evans won. Evans headed the puck towards Xhekaj, who immediately lost it. Xhekaj and his teammates spent the rest of the match besieged in their zone.
Nine minutes later, number 72 once again had to defend in his territory for a full shift, with the Coyotes shooting three times in nine seconds on Samuel Montembeault.
Xhekaj seemed amused when asked about his start to the match the day before. His locker neighbors too, who let out a few snickers. We understood that this start to the match had ultimately been eventful.
“I was wearing new skates and it distracted me,” the young defenseman told The Press, Wednesday. I felt weird, I thought: maybe I shouldn’t wear them. I don’t know why I still decided to put them on. I made some funny turns, I told myself it was the skates’ fault! I was really stuck in my head. »
Xhekaj had seen enough. It was there, midway through the first half, that he disappeared into the tunnel leading to the locker room during the commercial break.
I said, “OK, I’m going back to the old skates, I have one full game left, I’ll be fine.” And I calmed down and found my bearings. I was really just in my head.
Arber Xhekaj
From then on, we saw the Xhekaj of recent days again, undertaking possession of the puck, sometimes too much, but generally in the right amount. The Hamiltonian finished the game with two shots on goal, another blocked attempt, two hits and numerous puck possessions. We also note a differential of +1, but he had been on the ice for three seconds when Tanner Pearson scored, so the statistic skews the data a bit.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Arber Xhekaj
We sometimes hear about players who often change pairs of skates during a season, sometimes every two or three games. Occasionally, a player will change during intermission. But during a match during an advertising break, it’s rarer! And Xhekaj isn’t the type to change his skates every week.
“These are still the same skates I was wearing when I started rehabbing for my injury last season. It was fine, so I never changed them. Recently I tried a new pair in training, I felt good. But when the match started, I started thinking about it too much. »
It remains to be seen whether he will dare to change again this season, or whether he will endure his skates like old slippers.
If a player is training alone, but no journalists see him, is he really training?
We will meditate on this question another day, but in the meantime, know that Kirby Dach skated in full uniform on Wednesday, information that we know because Radio-Canada colleague Alexandre Gascon documented it. It would be, at least in the presence of a camera, a first session in full uniform for Dach, who had been seen skating in a sports tracksuit in recent days.
Dach is recovering from knee surgery and should theoretically miss time to return to action before the end of the season.
Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, who was injured on February 10, also put on the skates in full uniform, to practice alone. The Canadian had announced an absence of four to six weeks in his case.
Samuel Montembeault will get a second straight start on Thursday at Sunrise.
PHOTO JOSIE DESMARAIS, THE PRESS
Samuel Montembeault
Montembeault will be playing a sixth game against the only other organization he has known in the NHL. With his average of 5.61 and his efficiency of .863, you will understand that he is still looking for a first victory against the Panthers.
Moreover, Jake Evans and Jayden Struble, who missed training on Wednesday before leaving for Florida, were nevertheless expected to accompany their teammates for the four-game trip.