Fans were treated to a heavyweight tilt between Arber Xhekaj and Matt Rempe on Sunday, but it didn’t go as the New York Rangers enforcer had hoped. After Rempe instigated the fight and then lost it, everyone on social media said the exact same thing about his performance.
Arber Xhekaj has been in the spotlight for the last couple of days. He declined to fight Toronto Maple Leaf’s Ryan Reaves this past weekend, hilariously pointing at the scoreboard to mock his opponent. But on Sunday, Xhekaj wasn’t given much time to think about whether he wanted to fight Matt Rempe or not.
Early in the second period of the game between the Canadiens and the Rangers, shortly after Canadiens goalie Jakub Dobes froze the puck, Xhekaj and Rempe went at it.
Big fight between Arber Xhekaj and Rempe
Xhekaj pushed Rempe away from the net, and the Rangers enforcer took offense, quickly dropping his gloves to the ice and going after Xhekaj. Xhekaj didn’t even have time to drop his gloves before Rempe started throwing punches at him, but it didn’t take long for the Habs defenseman to start throwing punches of his own.
The two traded blows, but it was clear that Xhekaj had the upper hand for most of the fight, which ended when Xhekaj wrapped his arms around Rempe and took him down on the ice.
Rempe was clearly the instigator of the fight, earning an extra two minutes in the penalty box for roughing. Both players were also given five-minute majors for fighting.
Rempe slammed after fight with Xhekaj
On social media, fans slammed Rempe for his performance during the fight, with many labeling him the league’s worst enforcer.
“Man, he really sucks at fighting, doesn’t he?” one said.
“Crazy he started throwing before Arber got his gloves off and still lost,” another said.
“Has Rempe actually won a fight yet? Other than his size, he’s completely useless,” a third added.
Adding to Rempe’s woes, the Canadiens scored to tie the game on the ensuing power play.
“Starts a fight, loses, gets an instigator penalty, Montreal ties it up on the ensuing power play. This is why I laugh when people pretend Rempe’s presence brings value to a team,” one person said.
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