More trouble from the NHL coming for Arber Xhekaj?!

Montreal Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj has barely had time to process his most recent punishment from the league, and he may already be staring down another one. The physical blue liner, who was hit with the maximum allowable fine of $3,385.42 under the collective bargaining agreement following Game 3 against the Buffalo Sabres, appears to have put himself back on the NHL’s radar with yet another questionable play.

The initial fine came after Xhekaj’s actions targeting Sabres forward Sam Carrick near the end of Game 3. Habs head coach Martin St-Louis seemed to send a message of his own in Game 4 on Tuesday night, limiting Xhekaj’s ice time to the lowest of his entire career, keeping him glued to the bench for most of the contest at the Bell Centre.

Despite the drastically reduced role, Xhekaj still managed to draw attention for the wrong reasons. During a sequence in which the Sabres had a goal disallowed, footage shows the hard-nosed defenseman delivering a forceful cross-check to the back of young Buffalo forward Konsta Helenius’s head. The referees on the ice missed the infraction entirely, meaning Xhekaj went unpenalized in real time.

However, the fact that officials didn’t catch the play during the game doesn’t necessarily mean it will go unnoticed. This type of dangerous action, I mean it is a cross-check directed at a player’s head, is precisely the kind of play the NHL’s Department of Player Safety has been working to eliminate from the sport. It would not be surprising to see the league review the footage and hand down additional discipline.

Should the league decide to act, there is hope among Canadiens supporters that any punishment would be limited to another fine rather than a suspension, which could significantly impact Montreal’s playoff series against Buffalo. For a player who has already been on the wrong side of the league’s disciplinary process once this series, another infraction would raise serious questions about Xhekaj’s ability to keep his physicality in check during high-stakes postseason hockey. Further details are expected as the NHL reviews the incident.