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

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.

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.