Old hockey rivals wasted no time renewing their hatred for each other as Canadian NHL foes, the Ottawa Senators and Montreal Canadiens, turned a preseason game into bloody brawls.
The Eastern Conference teams played an exhibition game in the neutral location of Quebec City, with nothing friendly taking place on the ice.
In particular, Montreal brothers Arber and Florian Xhekaj made their presence felt by pummeling their Ottawa opposition on multiple occasions.
The throwdowns for the siblings began in the second period, during a dead period while officials were sorting a different fight, as Arber took exception with Senators forward Zack MacEwen at the benches.
Arber landed several haymakers to MacEwen, while another fight between Jayden Struble and Jan Jenik broke out at center ice.
A haymaker from Struble to Jenik’s face left the Czechia native in a bloody mess, needing stitches in the locker room. And the fighting was far from over.
The Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators turned their preseason game into a blood brawl
Arber and Florian Xhekaj were prominent in the fights with one player leaving the ice bloodied
In the third period, MacEwen delivered a rough hit that sent Jake Evans nearly into the Canadiens bench, with both Xhekaj quickly jumping onto their opponents’ back to start another brawl.
The final line brawl of the evening nearly turned into a grave situation, as Arber’s sharp skate blade nearly clips Evans in the face as they both tumble to the ice in separate fights.
Even without the gloves dropping, the barbaric nature of the Canadian matchup was not done, as Senators forward Nick Cousins was penalized for slashing Canadiens rookie Ivan Demidov without either possessing the puck.
Montreal won the game 5-0, with the teams combining for more than 150 penalty minutes.
The Canadiens and Senators will face again on Saturday, in Montreal, to close out the preseason for each squad. The first regular season game between the teams is on November 1.
While Arber Xhekaj has been on Montreal’s roster for the last few seasons, Florian has yet to make his regular-season NHL debut, spending 69 games last year with AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket.
