One controversial moment on the Sabres' second goal has Canadiens fans demanding answers
Nick Suzuki put Martin St-Louis and the Canadiens in a bind after one disputed penalty changed the tone against Buffalo.
At this point for Canadiens fans, it's countless times we see many calling for an investigation in the poor officiating Montreal has witnessed against them.
The flashpoint came near Jakub Dobes' crease, where Suzuki and Bowen Byram got tied up in a hard net-front battle. The call went against Montreal's captain for tripping.
That's where the controversy took off.
Byram appeared to be controlling Suzuki's stick during the sequence, which is why the penalty immediately felt off from Montreal's side. It wasn't a clean case of one player simply taking down another.
Buffalo didn't waste the opening.
The Sabres turned that power play into their second goal, and just like that the Canadiens were chasing a 2-0 hole in a game that was already slipping away.
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That's the part that stings most for Montreal.
A borderline whistle is frustrating on its own, but when it leads straight to the scoreboard, the swing hits a lot harder.
St-Louis' group now has more than just Buffalo to deal with. It has to manage the emotional fallout that comes when a playoff-style game gets tilted by a call players don't believe was there.
A bad call became a bigger problem for the Montreal Canadiens
This wasn't outrage over a routine minor in open ice.
It happened in traffic, around the blue paint, where sticks get tied up, bodies lean, and officials have to sort through chaos in real time.
Montreal's frustration also comes from the sequence itself.
If both players are engaged and one is hanging onto the other's stick, calling tripping on only one side will always draw heat.
That doesn't let the Canadiens off the hook for the rest of their night.
Buffalo was the sharper team and had earned control of the game by that point.
Still, the Suzuki penalty gave the Sabres a clean lane to widen the gap, and that changed the pressure on every shift that followed. Montreal went from trying to settle in to trying to survive.
For a team coached by St-Louis, that's where the next test starts.
The Canadiens have to park the anger fast, reset the bench, and make sure one disputed moment doesn't drag into the rest of the series.
Because even when Buffalo is playing the better game, a call like that sticks.
And when it ends with the puck in your net, nobody in that locker room is letting it go quietly.
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MAY 6, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Josh Doan | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ryan McLeod | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Zach Benson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Bowen Byram | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kirby Dach | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Greenway | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Beckett Sennecke | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Chris Kreider | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan Poehling | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Troy Terry | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jeffrey Viel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||