i mean he was responding for the greig hit.
he did his job.
Ultimately you want a guy like that on your team.
Ideally he's a little bit more in control of himself. Getting himself kicked out in two straight games for defending his guys is laudable but the end result in both games was a loss.
Even the Montreal Gazette admits this:
Upon further review: Perhaps Xhekaj’s act of irrationalism wasn’t that smart after all? The Senators scored three goals on the five-minute power play, recovering from a 2-0 deficit for a 4-3 victory.
But sure I'd take a guy like that on my team. He's like a much bigger Shane Hnidy. He's still a young guy and has a lot to learn about picking his spots and using his frame better.
If he'd hit Stutzle more squarely and/or punched Pare in the face as opposed to the back of the head, it would be a completely different story.
However, based on a track record of dirty hits (or near dirty hits) in the AHL and now the NHL, he's going to have to control it or the Habs will start dropping points when it actually matters and management won't be as understanding.
Hate to admit the Wifi hit on Stu was clean and not a headshot. Because of his dirty history, I'm fine with any of our players just going after him.
It was only clean because he missed with the elbow. The stick may have actually saved Stutzle more serious contact.
Keep that elbow tucked in like Grieg and he'd still be in the game.