We have an update regarding what happened last night with Montreal Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj.

As we reported earlier this morning, one of the more negative aspects that drew attention in the victory against the San Jose Sharks last night was the fact that Xhekaj was benched for the entire third period (and for the overtime period, of course).

 

That being said, we now have an explanation.

Martin St-Louis sends a message to Arber Xhekaj in a press conference to reassure him and explain that this was not the plan

To explain why Xhekaj was “benched” last night, the Canadiens’ head coach had this to say:

 

It boils down to this:

“Regarding the fact that Arber Xhekaj didn’t play in the third:

Martin St-Louis mentioned that the plan was not to bench him for the entire period, but by the time he was about to send him back on the ice, the Habs got two power plays.”

– Anthony Martineau, BPM Sports

St-Louis, therefore, did not want to put Xhekaj at risk by sending him back into action after he had spent so much time on the bench.

This led to the situation we saw last night.

 

“Martin St. Louis stated that the plan was not to leave Arber Xhekaj on the bench for the entire third period.

A few power plays for the Habs in the third period forced Xhekaj to stay on the bench longer than expected, and it would have been difficult to put him back in after that.”

– Stu Cowan

Does this explanation satisfy you?