Arber Xhekaj: The Cons
Many people will make it seem like Arber Xhekaj coming into the line-up for David Savard is the only real option for Montreal upon losing the first two games of the series to Washington, but that isn't really the case.
Like it was said before, the Montreal Canadiens have kept up with the Washington Capitals throughout these two games, and at points, the Canadiens have taken the Caps to task, especially towards the end of games.
There doesn't have to be a massive overhaul of the team for their fortunes to turn. The Montreal Canadiens have been just one shot away from tying Game 2 and winning Game 1. For a team that is super young and was expected to be a lottery team, keeping up with the Washington Capitals is fantastic.
And sometimes you just have to admit you have been bested. The Washington Capitals are the team of today, and the Montreal Canadiens are the team of tomorrow. This just might not be the year, and no changes could change that.
But there are reasons to keep Savard in the line-up over Xhekaj.
Experience
The Montreal Canadiens have two Stanley Cup champions on the roster. Alex Newhook won the Stanley Cup in 2021-22 in his rookie season with the Colorado Avalanche.
The other Stanley Cup winner is David Savard, with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020-21. And we don't really need to go over that one. All Montreal Canadiens fans remember that Stanley Cup Final.
Savard is also the oldest player on the Canadiens, two years older than Brendan Gallagher, at 34 years old. With that comes 870 games of NHL experience, with nearly 60 playoff games under his belt.
That is something that money cannot buy. David Savard is probably the most experienced player on the Canadiens roster. If anyone knows how to play in this kind of situation and how to handle the pressure, its him.
And that swings the other way as well. We have never seen Xhekaj play in such a situation, and it perhaps could be worse than Savard. We just don't know.
A Stabilizing Force
Lane Hutson is a rookie defender. Kaiden Guhle made his debut in 2022, so he has never played an NHL playoff game before this year. This is Jayden Struble's second year in the league and his first time in the postseason as well.
Mike Matheson and Alexandre Carrier have a bit more experience in the playoffs, with around 20 playoff games each. Just Ovechkin alone has 153 playoff games of experience. That is quite the gulf.
Just Savard has 3 times the playoff experience than Matheson, the next most experience Hab on the blueline. And that doesn't just show up on the ice.
If the defence is struggling throughout the game, Savard can be a stabilizing force. He can talk to players on the bench and keep everyone with a level head. And the forward core also doesn't have many veterans with playoff experience, so that experience could be invaluable.
Xhekaj would not have that veteran's touch that could keep a young defensive group from reeling if things go wrong fast. Its possible it would have a domino effect and the defense core as a whole could suffer.
The Fear Factor
There is a lot of talk about the fear that Xhekaj strikes into the hearts of opponents. And whether its the regular season or the post season, everyone knows and looks out for big number 73.
And there have been many posts on social media posting questionable physical plays or hard hits by Washington Capitals players on Habs, with captions saying things like "If only Xhekaj was there to give some retribution," or "If the Sheriff was there they would never get away with that."
But wouldn't they, though?
The post-season is a completely different animal than the regular one. The intensity is heightened, the hits are bigger, and the plays get dirtier. The refs tend to let a lot more go in the playoffs, and that goes for every single team and every single series.
Having Arber Xhekaj on the team won't change too much of how the Washington Capitals are playing. No matter who the Canadiens play, they will play hard, they will play physical, and depending on who you ask, they play dirty.
Xhekaj could lay the body on guys like Tom Wilson, but they will still come back as hard as they can. If they couldn't do that, they wouldn't be in the playoffs, or they wouldn't be for long.
And you don't want Xhekaj to run around head-hunting. Its either going to lead to him getting injured, doing something far past the line and getting suspended, or what's more likely, is he's going to be heavily penalized.
Xhekaj has always taken his fair share of penalties, its what helps him keep the fear up. But, you don't want to give Ovechkin and the Capitals too many powerplay chances.
Ultimately, its up to St. Louis on what he will do for Game 3, Game 4 and possibly beyond. He probably has all these thoughts and more running through his head. We will just have to see what happens.