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The Real Reason Martin St-Louis Benched Arber Xhekaj During Yesterday's Game Is Revealed

Originally posted on Habs Fanatics | By Elias Edmonson | Last updated Feb 28, 2025 11:29 AM ET

Despite the Montreal Canadiens' solid victory last night at the Bell Centre, there was a notable event involving Martin St-Louis and Arber Xhekaj.

In fact, two actions by Arber Xhekaj drew attention.

The first was his mistake on the goal scored by Will Smith, which gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead in the second period. The second was the subtle message he tried to send to Martin St-Louis.

Martin St-Louis Benches Arber Xhekaj After Will Smith's Goal

It had been a while since we had seen something like this with the Canadiens, but Xhekaj was indeed benched for the entirety of the second half of last night's game.

'Arber Xhekaj has been benched by the Canadiens since the Sharks' third goal by Will Smith.'

Martin St-Louis wanted to send him a message.

Another interesting detail: it's rare to see a player who has been 'benched' by his head coach do this, but during a commercial break, Xhekaj decided to hop on the ice to skate a bit and stretch his legs.

I loved seeing that.

'Arber Xhekaj, who was benched by Martin St-Louis, went out to skate on the ice during the commercial break.'
Stu Cowan

When asked about the reason for St-Louis' decision to bench Xhekaj, journalist Stu Cowan responded:

'Very bad decision at the offensive blue line. (on the Sharks' third goal)'

Going back to Xhekaj's decision to skate during the commercial break, it's something you rarely see, but personally, I think it simply showed Martin St-Louis, 'Hey, I'm staying ready if you need me.'

And not, 'I'm going to stretch my legs because my head coach is letting me rot on the bench,' as some interpreted it.

I just think it's a head coach doing a bit of hard coaching with a young player at the right moment.

I have absolutely no problem with it, and I'm convinced Xhekaj will come back stronger in the next game!

This article first appeared on Habs Fanatics and was syndicated with permission.

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