The long-standing rivalry between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators picked up steam during a pre-season contest on Tuesday night.
And the best news for hockey fans is the teams are going to be seeing plenty more of each other over the next two weeks.
The pre-season contest turned nasty when Ottawa’s Ridly Greig caught Montreal’s Kirby Dach with a high open-ice hit in the first period. Dach went to the locker room after the hit but later returned.
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The Habs clearly weren’t happy about the hit, though.
One period later, Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj laid an open-ice hit on Senators forward Tim Stutzle, elbowing him in the head and knocking his helmet off. This did not please the Senators as captain Brady Tkachuk rushed in to fight Xhekaj.
After the game, Senators coach Travis Green made it clear how he felt about Xhekaj’s play.
“Guys play on the edge and there are emotions in the game, but any time you see a blatant elbow to the head, you don’t want to see that,” he said.
The Xhejaj hit may have been retaliation for Greig’s play, which drew a two-minute interference penalty. Xhekaj got a major and a game misconduct.
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“It was a late hit. Thought it was pretty high … Second game in the pre-season where one of our better players gets sent down the tunnel,” Canadiens defenceman Jayden Struble said, referring to an injury to Patrik Laine that will keep the forward out 2-3 months.
“… I have all the respect for Arber in the world … Not saying you should go out and make dirty plays but he’s sticking up for his teammates.”
Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis also defended Xhekaj
“I don’t think he was trying to hurt Stutzle because they hit Dach,” he said. “He was trying to play the game there. It happens fast. Sometimes, the replay is slow motion. If you watch it live, to me it’s a hockey play. He’s a big guy, I think if a smaller defenceman does the same thing, it’s nothing. (Xhekaj) has to understand that, too.
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St. Louis said he felt Xhekaj would have made the same hit if the hit on Dach hadn’t happened.
Dach and Greig would go on to fight in the third period of Ottawa’s 4-3 win.
The teams meet again on Saturday in Ottawa to wrap up the pre-season.
One week later, they’ll renew acquaintances in Montreal on the first Hockey Night in Canada of the season.
