Major twist as Martin St-Louis scratches fan favorite for Game 1
Martin St-Louis is making a statement tonight. Arber Xhekaj skated with the healthy scratches this morning, and the Montreal Canadiens will open the Eastern Conference Final without their toughest defender.
Jayden Struble draws back in. That's the read after Xhekaj joined Jacob Fowler, Samuel Montembeault, Patrik Laine, Brendan Gallagher, and Joe Veleno on the extra-skater ice in Raleigh.
It's a calculated bet. Carolina doesn't hit like Buffalo did. The Hurricanes win games with structure, forecheck pressure, and pace, not bodywork along the boards.
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Xhekaj played a grand total of 13 games this postseason. He went 1-1-2 with a plus-5 rating, useful numbers, but not enough to earn a Game 1 sweater against this opponent.
His regular season told a similar story. The 25-year-old finished 65 games at 1-3-4 with a -8 rating on a $1.3 million cap hit. The deployment was already shrinking before the third round started.
Struble has been the safer bet. He went plus-3 across seven playoff games and posted 12 points in 59 regular-season appearances. The skating profile travels better against Carolina's transition game.
Habs lean on speed as Game 1 puck drops in Raleigh
The matchup math favors mobility. Montreal went 3-0 against the Hurricanes during the regular season, with wins of 7-5, 5-2, and 3-1, all built on tempo rather than physicality.
Rod Brind'Amour's group finished 53-22-7 for 113 points and a +56 goal differential. They lean on their home crowd and a relentless heavy forecheck that punishes slow defensemen.
That's the problem with dressing a one-dimensional blueliner here. If Xhekaj can't escape pressure on the wall, the Canes will hunt him every shift. St-Louis is choosing to remove the target.
The cost is real. No Xhekaj means no enforcer presence if things tilt sideways. Josh Anderson, Zachary Bolduc, and Kaiden Guhle will be asked to carry whatever physical edge the Habs need on the road.
Anderson has 23 points and a +6 rating across 14 playoff games. Bolduc has chipped in seven points in the same stretch. The pushback has to come from the forward group now.
The bigger question hangs over Game 2. If Carolina wins this opener and bodies the Canadiens around their own zone, does St-Louis double down on skill, or does Xhekaj walk back in on Saturday?
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YESTERDAY
MAY 20, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Dylan Coghlan | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nic Dowd | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Landeskog | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Colton | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Tomas Hertl | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ben Hutton | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nathan MacKinnon | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brandon Saad | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Colton Sissons | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Devon Toews | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Ahcan | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| Brent Burns | - | - | - | |
| Jack Drury | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||