Arber Xhekaj drops Ryan Reaves on empty net in heavyweight fight!

Hot start with the big boys in the game between the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Habs enforcer Arber Xhekaj came to the defense of his teammate Kaiden Guhle, who was tagged by Leafs’ tough guy Ryan Reaves.

The crowd didn’t have to wait too long into the first period to see a fight and it involved two heavyhitters, though the tilt looked like a tie to me.

Xhekaj did manage to get Reaves off his feet and dropped him on the empty net that had flipped over during their altercation.

The Maple Leafs and Reaves might have however gotten the edge since Xhekaj was penalized for instigating the fight and sent Toronto on the power-play.

In a preseason game, Xhekaj had appeared to threaten Reaves as their matchup was approaching.

“Obviously he’s a physical player,” Xhekaj said when asked about Reaves. “I’m a physical player. So I don’t know, we might run into each other a few times… we’ll see.”

He didn't wait long. 

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