<p>Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reaves spoke out on Montreal Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhekaj&#8217;s decision to decline the invitation for a fight during Saturday&#8217;s game.</p>
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<p>Late in the first period, the Canadiens were up 3-0 and Reaves was looking to give the Leafs a spark by going after Xhekaj. Xhekaj opted to point to the scoreboard and shooed him away, but both players exchanged words at the end of the period, as the officials did not intervene.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">fight 😭 </p>
<p>Arber Xhekaj appears to shoo off Ryan Reaves <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HockeyContent?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HockeyContent</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LeafsForever?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LeafsForever</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoHabsGo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoHabsGo</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NHL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NHL</a> <a href="https://t.co/Re0hgSywFK">pic.twitter.com/Re0hgSywFK</a></p>
<p>&mdash; hockeyfights (@hockeyfights) <a href="https://twitter.com/hockeyfights/status/1880787962356711559?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 19, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
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<p><a href="https://x.com/Sportsnet/status/1880788786449371234" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Xhekaj then laid a big open-ice hit on Reaves</a> during the second period but that was the last of the exchange for the night. Bobby McMann scored shortly thereafter to get the Leafs on the board, which ended up being the first of seven unanswered goals to help <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/leafs-canadiens-takeaways-woll-outstanding-tale-of-two-games-thrilling-comeback-victory" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toronto secure a big 7-3 comeback win over its archrivals</a>.</p>
<p>After Tuesday&#8217;s practice, <a href="https://x.com/TSN_Sports/status/1881775816373162439" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reaves was asked by reporters</a> about Xhekaj&#8217;s decision to brush him aside and he laid into the younger tough guy for a perceived lack of respect.</p>
<p>&#8220;Depending on whose perspective, but unfortunately (for Montreal) we rattled off seven after that, I guess,&#8221;  Reaves said. &#8220; When you&#8217;re a younger guy and you do that to somebody who&#8217;s been in the league for that long, maybe that guy&#8217;s not going to give you one when you need one.  Anytime there&#8217;s a fight now somebody needs some momentum. If he needed momentum and asked me and I give it to him, then I expect it back and I would have obliged if he would have done it there.&#8221;</p>
<p>When asked if the seven unanswered goals were karma for Xhekaj rejecting the invitation, Reaves agreed with the notion.</p>
<p>&#8220; You want to point the scoreboard and then get rattled off for seven, it&#8217;s a tough look,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>This isn&#8217;t the first time Reaves has taken exception to Xhekaj&#8217;s actions. Their first scrap back on the opening night of the 2023-24 campaign saw what appeared to be Xhekaj jumping at Reaves who was not entirely ready for a fight moments after he laid a hit on Kaiden Guhle. Xhekaj defended his actions <a href="https://x.com/TSN_Sports/status/1712546802581516566?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1712546802581516566%7Ctwgr%5E1d56cec6b34d55af010d05431b3b60588af3d67a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fca.sports.yahoo.com%2Fnews%2Fleafs-tough-guy-reaves-didnt-like-getting-jumped-by-xhekaj-if-you-want-to-fight-just-ask-232016008.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as simply sticking up for his teammate</a>, but Reaves did not appreciate being jumped on.</p>
<p>&#8220;Yeah. I don&#8217;t like getting jumped,&#8221; <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/if-you-want-to-fight-just-ask-me-maple-leafs-reaves-wants-xhekaj-rematch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reaves told reporters on October 13, 2023</a>. &#8220;I don&#8217;t know if I&#8217;ve ever really jumped anybody. If you want to fight, just ask me. I&#8217;m always around. You know where to find me.&#8221;</p>
<p>The two have had some close calls since then but Round 2 of the fight has not come to fruition as of yet. It is certainly extra frustrating for Reaves who has yet to drop the gloves this season, with his last regular season fight being on April 6 against Michael Pezzetta and his last scrap in general being against Donovan Sebrango on September 22.</p>
<p>He knows that fights in hockey are less prevalent than in years past and he is smart enough to know his spot in the lineup long-term isn&#8217;t a sure thing, but Reaves would love to get into a fight sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>“Yeah, it’s the longest I’ve gone without one. I would like one, for sure,” <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/ryan-reaves-is-puzzled-he-hasnt-fought-anyone-in-2024-25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he said on January 14</a>. “I mean, that’s what I’m here for. Or part of the reason I’m here. To not have one this late in season is new for me. So, I would definitely like one or two soon.”</p>
<p>The next game between the Leafs and Canadiens on April 12 is bound to be interesting, especially in terms of the battle between Xhekaj and Reaves.</p>
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Toronto Maple Leafs forward Ryan Reaves spoke out on Montreal Canadiens defenceman Arber Xhekaj's decision to decline the invitation for a fight during Saturday's game.
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Late in the first period, the Canadiens were up 3-0 and Reaves was looking to give the Leafs a spark by going after Xhekaj. Xhekaj opted to point to the scoreboard and shooed him away, but both players exchanged words at the end of the period, as the officials did not intervene.

https://twitter.com/hockeyfights/status/1880787962356711559

<a href="https://x.com/Sportsnet/status/1880788786449371234" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Xhekaj then laid a big open-ice hit on Reaves</a> during the second period but that was the last of the exchange for the night. Bobby McMann scored shortly thereafter to get the Leafs on the board, which ended up being the first of seven unanswered goals to help <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/leafs-canadiens-takeaways-woll-outstanding-tale-of-two-games-thrilling-comeback-victory" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Toronto secure a big 7-3 comeback win over its archrivals</a>.

After Tuesday's practice, <a href="https://x.com/TSN_Sports/status/1881775816373162439" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reaves was asked by reporters</a> about Xhekaj's decision to brush him aside and he laid into the younger tough guy for a perceived lack of respect.

"Depending on whose perspective, but unfortunately (for Montreal) we rattled off seven after that, I guess,"  Reaves said. " When you're a younger guy and you do that to somebody who's been in the league for that long, maybe that guy's not going to give you one when you need one.  Anytime there's a fight now somebody needs some momentum. If he needed momentum and asked me and I give it to him, then I expect it back and I would have obliged if he would have done it there."

When asked if the seven unanswered goals were karma for Xhekaj rejecting the invitation, Reaves agreed with the notion.

" You want to point the scoreboard and then get rattled off for seven, it's a tough look," he said.

This isn't the first time Reaves has taken exception to Xhekaj's actions. Their first scrap back on the opening night of the 2023-24 campaign saw what appeared to be Xhekaj jumping at Reaves who was not entirely ready for a fight moments after he laid a hit on Kaiden Guhle. Xhekaj defended his actions <a href="https://x.com/TSN_Sports/status/1712546802581516566?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1712546802581516566%7Ctwgr%5E1d56cec6b34d55af010d05431b3b60588af3d67a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fca.sports.yahoo.com%2Fnews%2Fleafs-tough-guy-reaves-didnt-like-getting-jumped-by-xhekaj-if-you-want-to-fight-just-ask-232016008.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as simply sticking up for his teammate</a>, but Reaves did not appreciate being jumped on.

"Yeah. I don't like getting jumped," <a href="https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/if-you-want-to-fight-just-ask-me-maple-leafs-reaves-wants-xhekaj-rematch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reaves told reporters on October 13, 2023</a>. "I don't know if I've ever really jumped anybody. If you want to fight, just ask me. I'm always around. You know where to find me."

The two have had some close calls since then but Round 2 of the fight has not come to fruition as of yet. It is certainly extra frustrating for Reaves who has yet to drop the gloves this season, with his last regular season fight being on April 6 against Michael Pezzetta and his last scrap in general being against Donovan Sebrango on September 22.

He knows that fights in hockey are less prevalent than in years past and he is smart enough to know his spot in the lineup long-term isn't a sure thing, but Reaves would love to get into a fight sooner rather than later.

“Yeah, it’s the longest I’ve gone without one. I would like one, for sure,” <a href="https://theleafsnation.com/news/ryan-reaves-is-puzzled-he-hasnt-fought-anyone-in-2024-25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he said on January 14</a>. “I mean, that’s what I’m here for. Or part of the reason I’m here. To not have one this late in season is new for me. So, I would definitely like one or two soon.”

The next game between the Leafs and Canadiens on April 12 is bound to be interesting, especially in terms of the battle between Xhekaj and Reaves.
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Ryan Reaves on Arber Xhekaj turning down his invitation to fight: ‘It’s a tough look’

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