Xhekaj playing with renewed confidence for Canadiens in Stanley Cup Playoffs

MONTREAL -- In each of the three games since the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Arber Xhekaj has yet to play more than 11 minutes: 10:59 in Game 1, 9:05 in Game 2, and 10:40 in Game 3.

But there is sometimes beauty in simplicity.

Occupying the role of sixth defenseman, Xhekaj is playing inspired hockey to help the Montreal Canadiens take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"I feel like nothing else really matters right now," said Xhekaj. "It's just your next shift, your next game, so that's kind of how I look at it. I just keep trying to stack up games and shifts and practices and everything."

Game 4 is in Montreal on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, The Spot, CBC, TVAS, SNE, SNO, SNP).

While Xhekaj has not stacked up a ton of shifts in this series, he has certainly made them count.

In Game 3 against the Lightning on Friday, Xhekaj hopped on the Bell Centre ice just 14 times, the lowest total amongst Canadiens defensemen and second lowest on the team, after the 11 shifts for forward Oliver Kapanen. But Xhekaj had a considerable impact on practically every one of those shifts.

At the end of the game, a 3-2 Canadiens win in overtime, Xhekaj had an assist on Kirby Dach's goal, eight hits, two shots, five shot attempts and a plus-2 rating.

"’Jaco’ doesn't want us to just give him anything for free, he's building up his own career," said coach Martin St. Louis following an optional skate at Bell Centre on Saturday. "That's not the norm for today's generation. A lot of times, the younger players want everything to come easily.

"A player can always turn to excuses, like 'If I played more, I'd play better.' But a coach will tell you that if you play better, then you'll play more. You have to be fair, but realistic. We're all working together. Arber knows that when he made his debut in the NHL, we lacked depth on defense with five rookies. He gained experience early on by playing more minutes. Now, we're relying on a few more solid defensemen. He's realistic about his spot, but he's also a competitor and he wants more."

Jayden Struble, Xhekaj's blue line partner since the start of the playoffs, also praised Xhekaj's effort.

"He's been huge," said Struble on Friday night. "He's like, 6'4" or 6'5", 240, and he's just a menace out there. It's controlled, though; he's not out there taking stupid penalties or anything. He's great. I feel like when we're on the ice, we're a good shutdown line, but we've had some good offensive shifts at moments. So yeah, I think we're jelling well together."

Entering Saturday, Xhekaj led the League during the playoffs with a puck possession percentage of 72.22 per cent. Struble, the next highest Canadiens player, ranks 20th in the NHL (64.79%).

Xhekaj did not need to drink a magic potion in order to become a model of stability. He just needed some time.

"Near the end of the year, I started to get my confidence back," he said. "I started feeling good with the puck, making plays, making hits, making reads. I kind of just wanted to keep it going in the playoffs."

In the absence of Noah Dobson, who is dealing with a left-hand injury, Xhekaj has risen to the occasion. Not so long ago, the 25-year-old Ontario native was having difficulty maintaining a consistent role in Montreal's defenseman corps. After the return from the Winter Olympics, he was scratched in 10 of the Canadiens' last 25 games, including six straight games in late March.

"Mentally, when you have a bunch of stuff going on and things you can't control, you want to get some answers, and sometimes there are no answers," said Xhekaj on Friday. "But I think when my mind's clear and I'm just playing, that's when I'm at my best. And I think tonight was a pretty good game."

When asked if he had played his best game of the series against Lightning, Xhekaj agreed.

"I think so,” he said. “I think I've played a number of good games this year, but in this type of moment in the playoffs, I think it's definitely a lot harder to play at your best. But I think I did pretty well."