Canadiens fans are outraged after controversial whistle in overtime loss

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Vincent Carbonneau
May 24, 2026  (8:36)

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Photo credit: Screenshot

Nick Suzuki and Martin St-Louis saw Game 2 turn on a penalty call Canadiens fans still are not buying.

That clip is why people are saying Montreal got robbed.

The sequence making the rounds looks like standard playoff pushing and grabbing after the whistle, not the kind of moment that should swing emotion in a conference final.

Instead, it became one of the biggest talking points from a night the Canadiens lost 3-2 in overtime.

That is why fans are so heated.

When a series is this tight, a soft call lands harder. It does not feel like routine officiating. It feels like a gift.

And for Montreal, that sting got worse because this was already a frustrating game.

The Canadiens were coming off a 6-2 win in Game 1 and had a real chance to leave Carolina with a 2-0 lead in the series. Instead, they got dragged into a much tighter, uglier game and watched the Hurricanes tie the series 1-1.

That is the real issue here.

The Canadiens were already fighting for every inch. They finished with only 12 shots on Frederik Andersen and had just 5 through 40 minutes. In overtime, they did not get a single shot on goal.

So when a light penalty shows up in a game where offense is already hard to find, it feels massive.

That is exactly why the reaction online was so loud. One post called it the softest penalty call of the playoffs. Another said if that is not embellishment, then what is.

Here is the clip :

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You can see why people went there.

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Montreal did not get run out of the building in Game 2. St-Louis said afterward the game was much tighter than the shot totals suggested, and he had a point. The Canadiens defended hard and stayed in the fight.

Josh Anderson even scored both Montreal goals in the loss.

That is why the whistle feels so annoying from the Canadiens side.

This was not a night where Carolina completely overwhelmed them. This was a grind, a squeeze, and a one-goal game that was always going to come down to tiny moments.

A soft call becomes a big story in that kind of game.

The good news for Montreal is that the series is only tied 1-1 and now shifts back to the Bell Centre.

The bad news is simpler.

The Canadiens already know Carolina adjusted.

Now they also know they may have to beat the Hurricanes and a few whistles they do not love.

Previously

A disgusting Jakub Dobes clip is suddenly causing outrage across the hockey world

It's now been confirmed for Stuart Skinner and the Oilers and everything just changed

Rod Brind'Amour just snapped and Gary Bettman is now in the middle of a massive controversy

POLL

1 HOUR AGO   |   100 ANSWERS Canadiens fans are outraged after controversial whistle in overtime loss Did the Canadiens get robbed by a soft penalty call in Game 2 ?

▢    Yes

▢    No

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