Arber Xhekaj faces punishment from the NHL Department of Player Safety after fighting Cedric Pare last night

It was an extremely difficult night for Montreal Canadiens fans, as they watched fifth overall pick David Reinbacher and superstar Patrik Laine suffer major injuries.

The man responsible for injuring Patrik Laine, who was acquired by the Montreal Canadiens from the Columbus Blue Jackets in August, was Toronto Maple Leafs depth AHL defenseman Cedric Pare - somebody who realistically had no business playing in a preseason game.

His dirty knee to knee hit might have ended Patrik Laine's season, and Montreal Canadiens enforcer defenseman Arber Xhekaj made sure he paid heavily for it, throwing several punches at him and throwing him down to the ice.

YOU CAN VIEW THE FIGHT HERE

Arber Xhekaj was booted from the game, and has now been fined by the NHL's department of player safety.

He has received the maximum allowable fine by the NHL's department of player safety due to his actions. While Montreal Canadiens fans lauded him for his instinct to stand up for his teammate, which is what hockey is all about, some Toronto Maple Leafs fans believed he should have faced a massive 20+ game suspension.

The rivalry is clearly still strong between these two teams, but the pain of losing Patrik Laine will not go away any time soon. Hopefully neither David Reinbacher nor Patrik Laine are out long-term, but both injuries looked very bad.

À LIRE

Il y a 22 minutes  |  Par Nicolas Desrosiers Changement de position inattendu pour Juraj Slafkovsky? Nick Suzuki confirme la rumeur à son sujet

Il y a 2 heures  |  Par Nicolas Desrosiers Le verdict vient de tomber pour Patrik Laine et Rafaël Harvey-Pinard avec une annonce concernant les trios

Il y a 3 heures  |  Par Nicolas Desrosiers Scène magique et inattendue après l'entraînement du Canadien de Montréal

Il y a 3 heures  |  Par Cédrick Gervais Pierre LeBrun dévoile un gros scoop sur une transaction majeure négociée entre les Canadiens et les Hurricanes

Il y a 4 heures  |  Par Cédrick Gervais On connait maintenant la raison pourquoi Christian Dvorak n'a toujours pas été échangé par le Canadien

Il y a 6 heures  |  Par Nicolas Desrosiers Ça se jouerait entre deux vétérans pour une transaction majeure chez le Canadien selon Frank Seravalli

Il y a 7 heures  |  Par Cédrick Gervais Chris Johntson vient de donner une mise à jour importante concernant la candidature de Nick Suzuki

Il y a 18 heures  |  Par Cédrick Gervais La valeur de Jake Evans sur le marché des transactions serait maintenant connue?

PLUS DE CHRONIQUES