Martin St. Louis Reveals His Honest Thoughts on Arber Xhekaj's Performance Vs. St. Louis Blues

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Julien Trekker
October 27, 2024 (3:54 PM)

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Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis revealed his honest thoughts on Arber Xhekaj's performance last night against the St. Louis Blues.

In the past week, Arber Xhekaj, Martin St. Louis, and the Montreal Canadiens have been under the spotlight for various reasons. Before last night's game against the St. Louis Blues, Xhekaj was a healthy scratch for two consecutive games, which caused a lot of debates online; notably about St. Louis' future in Montreal as head coach.

On Friday, the team announced that Arber Xhekaj would be in uniform to face the Blues, and in his press conference before the game, Martin St. Louis had harsh words for Xhekaj, saying he simply has got to be better:

"I mean you should be worried about making a couple of mistakes, right? You know, he's not a rookie anymore, so you should be "I got to be better", very simple. It's not like we nitpick anything he does, but he's got to be better, I expect a better version, I expect Xhekaj to be a better version."

Xhekaj, 22, took part in his 101st career game in the NHL last night in the Canadiens' 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues as the Canadiens played their best game since October 12th, when they beat the Ottawa Senators 4-1. Despite all the injuries, the team rallied together and performed well in all areas of the game to earn two points.

After the clash, St. Louis was asked to comment on Arber Xhekaj's performance in the game and said he thought it was excellent, as he was engaged in doing all they worked on during practices:

"I thought he (Arber Xhekaj) was excellent, throughout the gameThe stuff that we talked about that kept him out, I felt like tonight he was very engaged in applying everything that we've been working on, talking with. So I'm happy for him."

If Xhekaj continues to perform like he did last night, the Canadiens could be in a great position to make some noise in the NHL this season, especially when Juraj Slafkovsky, Kaiden Guhle, and Patrik Laine, all key players in the Montreal lineup, return from injury.

The Canadiens will be back on the ice Sunday to face John Tortorella and the Philadelphia Flyers at the Bell Center. It'll be interesting to see if the Canadiens will be able to build on last night's win, but also whether or not Xhekaj can make an impact against a struggling Flyers team also desperate to prove they belong.

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