TVA Sports just revealed that Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj fired the hardest shot leading to a goal in the NHL this season.
The number is 156.6 km/h, and it lands while Montreal is on the ice tonight against the Utah Mammoth, a game still in the second period as this is written.
Nicolas Cloutier of TVA Sports noted that Xhekaj's shot is now the most powerful of the season to lead to a goal.
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For a player who has spent most of the week in the headlines for his fists, it's a different kind of highlight. Xhekaj has 25 penalty minutes in 14 games this season, and just two assists on the scoresheet.
That's the part worth noticing. He hasn't scored yet this season, so the hardest shot of the year to produce a goal didn't come off his own stick as a goal. The post gives the speed and nothing more, and the scoresheet says the shot helped set one up.
Fans have been watching him closely lately. He and his brother Florian dropped the gloves at Habs practice earlier in the week, and then came the scrap with Winnipeg.
Why a 156.6 km/h shot matters for Xhekaj's role
Xhekaj is 6'4 and 240 pounds, and his job has always been physical. A shot like this gives Martin St-Louis another reason to keep him in the lineup, and it gives opponents something else to respect on the blue line.
Over his NHL career, Xhekaj has 10 goals in 244 games. Power like that has never quite turned into production, and that's the gap he still has to close.
The Canadiens come into the night at 9-3-3, second in the Atlantic Division, with a 7-1-2 record over their last 10. They lost 5-4 in overtime to the Jets on Tuesday, the same night Tyrell Bauer and a Xhekaj went at it.
Hard shots from the point don't help much if they don't find the net on his own terms. Still, a defenseman who can do this on the power play or at even strength is a weapon a coach finds uses for.
Montreal's next game is Saturday at Toronto, where we'll see if Xhekaj stays in the lineup and keeps letting it fly.
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Should the Canadiens use Arber Xhekaj more on the power play after a 156.6 km/h shot?
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