Slafkovsky headbutt: Noel Acciari did what he wanted on the ice last night

Dose
Crédit:

The Montreal Canadiens suffered their third consecutive loss last night, as the Habs fell 3-1 to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Let’s just say that when Christian Dvorak was the only Habs scorer, it says a lot about the kind of game Martin St-Louis’ team played.

The Habs didn’t play their worst game, and still managed to generate some good chances, especially in the third period, but in the end, the players lacked opportunism.

Of course, credit must be given to Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic, who did very well in a game where he saw the opposition shoot at the net more often than his team (26 to 24 for the Habs).

In short, one might say that it was an uneventful game/loss for the Habs.

However, the referees’ performance made the game degenerate.

Several infractions by the Penguins, more specifically by forward Noel Acciari, were not penalized by the referees, creating a lot of animosity in the game and a lot of frustration on the part of the Habs players.

And, let’s just say, having to sleep in Pittsburgh certainly didn’t reduce that level of frustration after the loss.

In short, Noel Acciari did whatever he wanted on the ice last night, and that’s just not right.

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The Penguins forward made a number of dirty hits on the Habs players, including the one on Juraj Slafkovsky’s head late in the game that got the most attention.

Clearly a dirty hit, it broke the Habs’ momentum, especially as it went unpunished and Slaf retreated to the dressing room.

The Habs had plenty of life in the third period, but Acciari’s hit cut the Habs’ momentum.

So it’s only natural that Acciari’s hit was the one that broke the camel’s back, forcing the Habs players to react after the clock had run out, to avoid receiving a penalty as the club looked to tie the game.

As soon as the game ended, Arber Xhekaj attempted a knee-on-knee hit on Acciari, creating total chaos on the ice, as all players on the ice were involved in a free-for-all, with Xhekaj and Struble the main players on the Habs side.

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Anyway, the point is that, in the end, if the referees had done their job instead of letting Noel Acciari do whatever he wanted without consequence, it wouldn’t have come to this.

Kevin Bieksa himself said that Acciari had it coming and deserved it, and that in the end, the Habs had to react and give Acciari his due.

In short, the referees did a pitiful job yesterday, and today, Arber Xhekaj is being insulted and denigrated on social networks, when in the end, he only did his job by avenging Acciari’s dirty moves.

It’s a shame, but more and more, it seems that no matter what Xhekaj does, he’ll be punished and seen as the ONLY bad guy.

Overtime

– Deserved

– Nice.

– For those who missed it.

– To listen to.

– To be continued.

This content was created with the help of AI.