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Watch: Arber Xhekaj lands heavy blow on official, heated Habs-Bruins scrum ensues after Lane Hutson collision
Montreal Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj made headlines on Sunday night after landing a heavy punch on an official during a scrum against the Boston Bruins.
The incident occurred as tensions flared on the ice during the first period after Lane Hutson had collided with Mark Kastelic. What makes Xhekaj's actions concerning is the league's strict zero-tolerance policy for violence against officials.
Watch the video here:
The referee immediately grabbed his head to show that he was hurt, which will only cause problems for Arber Xhekaj in his defense of the incident despite being accidental.
Xhekaj was hit with a game misconduct and could face a suspension from the NHL's Department of Player Safety.
Arber Xhekaj has accumulated three points through as many assists in 21 games this season, a minus-9 rating. The Canadiens face the New York Islanders next on Tuesday. The puck drops at 7 p.m. ET.
Boston Bruins downed Arber Xhekaj's Montreal Canadiens
On Sunday, the Boston Bruins hosted the Montreal Canadiens at TD Garden for a fierce Original Six rivalry matchup and won 6-3.
Charlie McAvoy opened the scoring for the Bruins with a wrap-around goal, putting the team up 1-0 at 11:45 of the first period. Just under a minute later, David Pastrnak doubled the lead, and Charlie Coyle scored next, making it 3-0 for the Bruins.
McAvoy netted his second goal of the night in the second period, increasing Boston's lead to 4-0. Cole Caufield cut the deficit to 4-1 for the Habs at 5:42 before heading into the final period.
Coyle scored again early in the third period, extending the Bruins' lead to 5-1. Goals from Emil Heineman and Caufield brought the score to 5-3 for the Habs, but Cole Koepke's empty-net goal sealed a dominating win for the Bruins.
“Of course we want to win,” Boston interim coach Joe Sacco said via NHL.com. “We wanted to make the fans, we wanted to make the players of the past that are here now, we wanted to make them proud of our effort more than anything today.
"The score usually takes care of itself when you do that, so I thought our guys did a pretty good job of that today.”
On Tuesday, the Bruins return to action in another Original Six matchup against the Detroit Red Wings. The puck drops at 7 p.m. ET.
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