Montreal Canadiens

Odd Call on Xhekaj in Canadiens vs. Flyers Game Sparks Outrage

A missed third-man-in penalty call on Flyers’ Nick Seeler leaves Canadiens’ Arber Xhekaj penalized and fans angry at NHL officials.

by
Jim Parsons
October 27, 2024

The hockey world is buzzing after a controversial call in Sunday night’s matchup between the Montreal Canadiens and Philadelphia Flyers. During the first period, Montreal’s Arber Xhekaj squared up with Flyers’ Sean Couturier following a high hit on Canadiens forward Kirby Dach. Just as Xhekaj and Couturier prepared to drop the gloves, Flyers defenseman Nick Seeler charged in, throwing an unexpected punch at Xhekaj. What should have been a one-on-one fight quickly turned into a two-on-one scenario.

The strangest part about the entire series is that the officials called Xhekaj with the unsportsmanlike penalty and didn’t penalize Seeler at all.

Sean Couturier clips Kirby Dach in the neutral zone, Arber Xhekaj takes exception and tries to fight Couturier, and Nick Seeler absolutely shuts it down ????

Couturier and Dach kept the conversation going across benches ????️ pic.twitter.com/2ljXtz6Gm7
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 27, 2024

The Flyers wound up with a power play which ignited significant backlash and theories that the officials were out to send a message to Xhekaj. Many fans argued that Seeler’s interference should have warranted an offsetting penalty, if not a power play for the Canadiens.

The call sparked heated reactions online, with NHL broadcaster PJ Stock tweeting, “NHL is completely wrong on the call in the Canadiens Flyers game. Terrible call. Two Flyers drop their gloves. 1 Canadien. 1 penalty to Montreal.” Stock suggested the league needs to step in and right a wrong. “This is where NY has to jump in. It’s hockey in October. Fine. Imagine this happened in April.”

Arber Xhekaj Montreal Canadiens defenseman

Montreal Gazette’s Stu Cowan also weighed in, criticizing the call: “So #Habs Arber Xhekaj is the second player to drop the gloves after Couturier drops his and then gets jumped by a third guy and Xhekaj’s the only one who gets a penalty? NHL officiating…”

Did the Officials Get the Xhekaj Call Correct?

Fans in Montreal were outraged as Xhekaj followed protocol by waiting until Couturier was ready, only to face a penalty for an incident in which he was blindsided by a third player. It was a strange call considering one could argue that few have ever seen anything like that call. It could have easily been a 5-on-3 for Montreal when the sequence was over.

if NHL officials are going to be making these kinds of calls, this could be a long season.

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