'Egregiously bad officiating': Habs fans irate as Arber Xhekaj gets slapped with penalty while two other Flyers walk away without discipline

Montreal Canadiens fans expressed disappointment with the referee's decision to penalize defenseman Arber Xhekaj. During Sunday's matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers, Sean Couturier dropped his gloves first, which led to Nick Seeler entering the fray as a third man behind the Habs net against Xhekaj.

However, the officials only penalized Arber Xhekaj for unsportsmanlike conduct despite the circumstances. Xhekaj was hit with a two-minute minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct against Couturier, leaving fans frustrated with the call.

Habs fans took to X/Twitter to vent out their disappointment with the call, as one said:

"Couturier drops his gloves first, Seeler comes in as a third man, and the refs are only calling Xhekaj for unsportsmanlike. That is egregiously bad officiating."

Another chimed in:

"Lmfao, the league starting to become a sh*t show… worst refs in all sports."

Here are some of the other top reactions on X:

"How do you come in at the end and throw a punch when two other guys are engaged. Cannot believe Xhekaj got the only call," another fan wrote.

"Couturier was definitely hoping for just a wrestling match but when the ref allowed them to square up he was not excited lol. Couturier is a tough customer don’t get me wrong but Arber is a different beast," one fan tweeted.

"@TimCPeel20 whats your opinion? I think that Xhekej Getting the only call is BS ( But matching penalties make sense IMHO). To me the ref points to both players for a call but i am also a “couch referee," one asked the former NHL referee for his opinion on the call.

"Seeler coming in after Couturier and Arber had dropped the gloves feels silly, Arber and Couturier had seemingly agreed to go a round, other players aren’t really supposed to get involved in that at that point," another opined.

Arber Xhekaj and Canadiens downed Fylers on the road

On Sunday, the Montreal Canadiens secured a narrow win after beating the Philadelphia Flyers 4-3 at Wells Fargo Arena. This marked the second straight win for the Habs.

Brendan Gallagher and Nick Suzuki accumulated two points apiece, while Cayden Primeau ended the night with 23 saves for the visitors between the pipes. For the Flyers, Travis Sanheim accumulated three points, and Aleksei Kolosov made 24 saves for the home team.

Arber Xhekaj and the Montreal Canadiens return to Centre Bell Arena to host the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.