Ryan Reaves drops the gloves for the first time as a Maple Leaf, takes on 234-pound Arber Xhekaj

When Leafs GM Brad Treliving signed veteran enforcer Ryan Reaves to a 3-year deal worth $1.35M this summer, many began to salivate over the thought of watching Reaves dispense some on-ice justice in a Maple Leafs sweater. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait very long for his first fight as a Leaf.

After Reaves took a run at Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle behind the Montreal net in the first period, 6'4, 234-pound defenseman Arber Xhekaj took offense and immediately went after an off-balance Reavo, with the two warriors shaking their gloves off and going toe-to-toe in the season opener.


The scrap was a brief one, as Xhekaj had actually stopped swinging just long enough to push Reaves over the back of the Canadiens net, sending the two heavyweights crashing to the ice and ending the fight. Xhekaj got an instigator penalty and a 10-minute misconduct, as well as his fighting major, which resulted in a 2-minute Leafs power play. Unfortunately for the Leafs, they were unable to convert with the man advantage, with the game remaining 1-0 for the Canadiens.


It will be interesting to see if these two go again tonight, as the first go-around was fairly short-lived.