Arber Xhekaj Ends Canadiens' 5-1 Game 2 Win Over Sabres
arber xhekaj was on the ice to finish the Canadiens' 5-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres in Game 2 on Friday night in Buffalo. He stayed in Martin St. Louis’s lineup after a Game 1 loss, and his usage kept the same question alive about how much margin the coach gives him in a playoff series.
Xhekaj Finishes Game 2
The Canadiens closed out the game with Xhekaj on the ice after they had already built the 5-1 result in Buffalo. Earlier in the night, Mike Matheson scored the game-winning goal early in the contest, and Zach Benson later took a two-minute penalty for cross-checking Matheson late in Game 2.
Xhekaj also spent part of the game in the penalty box. He took a slashing penalty on Jordan Greenway with the score 3-0 early in the second period, a detail that fits the pattern that has made him a harder lineup call than most defensemen on the roster.
St. Louis and the Xhekaj Choice
St. Louis has already shown he will wait before using him. Last spring, he did not start Xhekaj until Game 3 against the Washington Capitals in Round 1, and the Canadiens won that game; Xhekaj’s debut in that series was widely seen as the turning point before Tom Wilson hit Alexandre Carrier in Game 4.
That history matters because discipline has been part of the evaluation. Xhekaj was a healthy scratch down the stretch last season after taking penalties viewed as costly, and he played in only one of the Canadiens' final 10 regular-season games. He later appeared in 65 games this season after the Canadiens added Noah Dobson in the offseason, while Dobson’s late-season injury kept him out of the first six games against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Round 1.
Dobson, Struble, and Depth
The blue line has not stayed static around him. Xhekaj averaged 0:03 per game on the power play in 2024-25 after peaking at 1:01 per game in the 2023-24 season, and Lane Hutson’s rookie year left the Canadiens in a different spot than the one they entered at fifth from last in the entire league.
Even when Dobson returned, St. Louis still had another choice to make. Jayden Struble stayed in the lineup in Game 7 against Tampa Bay instead of Xhekaj, which left Friday’s Game 2 usage in Buffalo as another sign that the coach is still weighing physical edge against the cost of penalties.
For Xhekaj, the finish to Game 2 was the cleanest part of the night. For St. Louis, it was another data point in a series where the Canadiens have already shown they will keep him close when they want the edge he brings.
