Iwas very surprised Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis decided to make Arber Xhekaj a healthy scratch for Thursday night’s 4-2 win over the Penguins in Pittsburgh. Article content

Xhekaj logged a season-high 16:01 of ice time in Tuesday night’s 6-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Bell Centre and wasn’t on the ice for any goals against. I thought Jayden Struble would sit out to make room for Adam Engstrom after he struggled against the Lightning, finishing the game minus-2. Article content Article content

Xhekaj had been playing with more confidence over his last five games and said he had stopped playing with a fear of making mistakes. It reminded me of Victor Mete’s comments after the Ottawa Senators claimed him off waivers from the Canadiens in 2021, saying it was hard fo

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