Canadiens rookie Arber Xhekaj is learning some valuable NHL lessons

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The Canadiens’ Arber Xhekaj got off to a rough start in Tuesday night’s 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild at the Bell Centre.

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The rookie defenseman seemed to be fighting the puck early in the game and just over five minutes into the first period he pinched in on an offensive rush as the trailer on a play and was unable to take a pass from Nick Suzuki off his skate. Minnesota went the other way on a three-on-one, with Xhekaj skating hard to get back in position, and the Wild ended up scoring to take a 1-0 lead at the 5:52 mark.

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Xhekaj looked more comfortable as the game went on before taking a bad penalty for roughing the Wild’s Ryan Hartman at 13:15 of the second period. There was already a delayed penalty called against the Wild and Xhekaj took a bit of a shot at Hartman, who embellished enough to draw a penalty.

“Is it a good call, is it a bad call?” head coach Martin St. Louis said after the game. “It doesn’t matter. You put yourself in that situation that the refs could call it.”

It was a learning experience for Xhekaj, who was playing in only his seventh NHL game.

“I know when the ref has his hand up you can’t do anything because they’re just looking to even it up,” Xhekaj said after practice Wednesday in Brossard. “Obviously, I made a mistake there. Mistakes are going to happen and moving forward it won’t happen again. I knew right when I did it (it was a mistake). It was a weak call, but don’t take any chances when they’re looking to even it up. It was a dumb play on my part, but I learned my lesson and I’ll move forward.”

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It wasn’t Xhekaj’s best game, but there are going to be ups and downs with any rookie in the NHL — especially defensemen. He was happy with the way he was able to bounce back after a shaky start.

“I didn’t have a good start and wasn’t happy with the way I was playing,” he said. “The biggest thing is you can’t let that take care of your whole game. I sat in the room (during the first intermission) and reset and felt a little better in the second and third (periods). I still didn’t feel it was a great game on my end, but I didn’t make too many mistakes and just kept it simple for the rest of the game.”

Xhekaj is proving he can play in the NHL despite never being selected at the draft. In his first seven games, he has 1-2-3 totals and a plus/minus differential of plus-2 while averaging 15:11 of ice time. He also leads the Canadiens with 27 hits, 11 more than Josh Anderson, who ranks second, and he easily won a heavyweight fight with the Arizona Coyotes’ Zack Kassian.

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Veteran Canadiens defenseman David Savard has been impressed by Xhekaj. Savard skated this summer in Brossard with Adam Nicholas, the Canadiens’ new director of hockey development, before the start of training camp and Xhekaj was also there.

“He looked really good before camp and even more during camp and now he’s on the team,” Savard said. “All credit to him. He’s worked hard and he looks really good out there. I think he wants to make his presence felt and that’s what he’s been doing and that’s why he’s here.

“He has mobility for a big guy, he skates really well and he makes simple plays,” Savard added. “He’s been really effective and that’s what you want from a big, physical D-man. It’s a tough league to be at the top of your game every shift, but that’s what you’re striving for. It’s a learning process and he’s been really good for us since the beginning of the year and it’s fun to see.”

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Xhekaj said he’s feeling more comfortable with each game he plays and it was during last Saturday night’s 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars that he really felt he belonged in the NHL.

“I was making the plays I wanted to make and not really reacting to how the pressure was,” he said. “Whatever I wanted to do, I was making those plays and I was thinking to myself: Yeah, you belong and you can make those plays. It’s just the beginning for me. I’m young and I’m learning every day. I’ll get better every day, just like I did in junior.”

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