Arber Xhekaj faces NHL suspension verdict after one of the playoffs' most controversial hits
Arber Xhekaj put Martin St-Louis and the Canadiens in a bad spot with one late punch at the Bell Centre on Sunday night.
As of today, we await the league's decision, but we can ensure there will be a verdict: a fine, a suspension, or no punishment?
The play is going to get a long look from the NHL's Department of Player Safety, and it should.
Sam Carrick went down right away after Xhekaj caught him clean with a right hand.
What stands out is the setup before the shot landed.
Carrick's arms looked tied up, while Xhekaj still had one free, and that's where this turns from scrum chaos into suspension territory.
That kind of sequence usually draws more than a quiet warning.
The league has shown before that punches thrown on a player who cannot defend himself bring real consequences.
Xhekaj plays on the edge, and that edge is part of his value on Montreal's blue line.
But there's a line between tone-setting and crossing into something player safety feels forced to address.
This one crossed it. The clip is short, clear, and ugly enough that nobody in Montreal should be expecting it to fade away by midday.
A suspension feels more likely than a fine for Arber Xhekaj
The main issue isn't that Xhekaj threw a punch in a heated finish. It's that Carrick did not appear to be in position for a fair exchange when the blow came through.
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That matters in these reviews.
Player safety usually weighs vulnerability first, and Carrick's posture in the clip gives the league a clean angle to argue supplemental discipline.
So yes, the expectation around this play should be simple.
Xhekaj is likely facing punishment, and the smart read is that an announcement from Player safety will come later today.
That would leave Montreal staring at a lineup problem before the next puck drop.
Xhekaj brings snarl, pushback, and presence, and there is no clean in-house replacement for that role.
It also puts more heat on St-Louis, because discipline like this always lands on the coach's bench too.
The Canadiens can defend emotion.
They can't defend the visual on that punch.
By Monday, this probably won't be a debate about intent.
It'll be about how many games Xhekaj loses.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 10, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Cutter Gauthier | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Alex Newhook | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alexander Killorn | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Beckett Sennecke | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jake Evans | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kirby Dach | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mikael Granlund | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Ian Moore | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||