Saturday night's clash between the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs turned out to be an epic one for the Hockey Night in Canada history books.
The Leafs dug themselves into an early 3-0 deficit in the first period, and at that point, Ryan Reaves attempted to take it upon himself to try to spark his team by trying to initiate a scrap with Habs defenseman Arber Xhekaj, but to no avail.
When approach by Reaves, Xhekaj looked to skate away rather than drop his gloves. When further pursued by Reaves, Xhekaj pointed up to the scoreboard and waved Reaves off, informing him that his first fight of the season would have to wait.
As it turns out, that might have been the wrong call, as after Xhekaj tucked his tail between his legs, it led to Reaves and the Leafs coming back to tie the game at 3-3 in the second period, which prompted Leafs colour commentator Joe Bowen rub some salt in the wounds of Xhekaj and the Canadiens.
As the Leafs continued to run up the score, Xhekaj did manage to land a heavy hit on Ryan Reaves. While the pair talked back and forth for much of the game, they never did drop the gloves, even once the Leafs got up in the game. Perhaps that was Reaves giving Xhekaj a taste of his own medicine with his team up by a health margin in the 3rd period.
With the win, the Leafs move to 29-16-2, becoming just the 2nd team in the Eastern Conference to reach 60 points on the season. They've also maintained a 3-point lead over the Florida Panthers for top spot in the Atlantic Division.
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16 HOURS AGO | 1121 ANSWERS Legendary Leafs Play Caller Joe Bowen Dunks on Arber Xhekaj on Telecast After Habs Blow Lead Did you get a kick out of Joe Bowen chirping Arber Xhekaj during the Telecast on Saturday? | ||