There are regulation losses, and then there are nights that leave a franchise questioning the very integrity of the game’s management. What transpired in Montreal, culminating in a 6-5 victory for the Edmonton Oilers, was unequivocally the latter.
The Montreal Canadiens were not just winning; they were dominating. Holding a 5-3 lead early in the third period—built on a blistering four-goal surge in just over four minutes—Martin St. Louis’s squad was demonstrating its most “complete game” at 5-on-5, according to the head coach. They had taken a high-powered Oilers team and, for long stretches, neutralized them.
Then, the script wasn’t just flipped; it was shredded by the officiating crew. A chaotic, baffling, and deeply controversial sequence of penalties handed the game to Edmonton, leaving the Canadiens organization furious and the league with serious questions to answer.
The Anatomy of an Implosion
The game’s pivot point wasn’t a bad bounce or a missed assignment. It was a series of whistles. The Canadiens were assessed five consecutive penalties in the third period, turning a controlled 5-on-5 game into a shooting gallery for Edmonton’s lethal power play.
The controversy began with a boarding call on Juraj Slafkovsky. From most angles, it appeared to be a standard hockey play, but it sent the Oilers to the man advantage. The call was questionable enough on its own, but its significance grew exponentially when, according to veteran Brendan Gallagher, the officials later admitted to the Montreal bench that they had made a mistake on that initial call.
That admission is critical. It means that with the game’s temperature rising, the officiating crew, led by Chris Schlenker and Garrett Rank, knew they had already erred. Yet, instead of swallowing the whistle and letting the players decide, the calls continued. Next, a “soft” tripping penalty was assessed to Mike Matheson, who had the misfortune of tangling with Connor McDavid.
But the “real stinger,” as it was later described, came immediately after Leon Draisaitl capitalized on the Matheson penalty to make it 5-4. In a moment of clear frustration, Josh Anderson, either by firing the puck down the ice or tapping his stick in protest, was handed a two-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
Gallagher offered a pointed explanation: the penalty was called because the official felt Anderson “showed him up.” Head Coach Martin St. Louis highlighted the official’s discretion in that moment. “He had the choice to give two or ten minutes,” St. Louis noted, well aware that a ten-minute misconduct would have simply removed Anderson from the game without gifting Edmonton another power play. “He chose two, and that gave them the game.”
The consequences were immediate and devastating. Just 58 seconds after Draisaitl’s goal, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored on the Anderson power play, tying the game 5-5. The Canadiens, having played a stellar game, saw their lead evaporate not through their own defensive breakdowns, but through a series of calls they felt were unjustifiable. Vasily Podkolzin’s game-winner with just over a minute left felt like a foregone conclusion; the momentum, and the game, had been irrevocably seized.
“They Didn’t Beat Us”: The View from the Baffled Room
The post-game reaction from the Canadiens’ dressing room was not one of disappointment. It was one of pure, unadulterated fury.
Cole Caufield, typically measured, delivered a scathing assessment that echoed across the league: “The refs kind of took over the game there, and kudos to them for winning it.”
Brendan Gallagher, a veteran who has seen his share of officiating, was just as blunt. He argued that the Oilers, possessing some of the “high-end talent” on the planet, do not need “extra help” from the referees. He stressed that officials must understand the emotional temperature of a game and maintain control, especially, he implied, when they’ve already admitted to blowing calls.
But the strongest words came from Martin St. Louis. The coach, who has championed a process-over-results mentality, essentially declared the result illegitimate.
“They didn’t beat us,” he stated flatly, a powerful indictment of the game’s proceedings. He praised his team’s 5-on-5 structure and then publicly challenged the National Hockey League. St. Louis said he hopes the league will review the video and “do the same process” of trying to get better—a clear signal that, in his view, accountability for this loss rests squarely on the shoulders of the officiating department.
The final penalty tally—six for Montreal, one for Edmonton—only underscored the disparity in a game where Montreal had driven possession for significant stretches.
A “Gift” for the Oilers
To Edmonton’s credit, they didn’t apologize for the victory. You play the game in front of you, and when an opponent—or an official—hands you five consecutive power plays, elite players will capitalize.
The Oilers’ room was frank in its own assessment. Coach Kris Knoblauch and his players openly “understood the Oilers were given a gift.” They acknowledged they were fortunate and had not played to their potential.
“I would say for most of the game it was not our standard,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins admitted. But, he added, “When we get an opportunity like that, we’ve got to take advantage.”
It’s also worth noting that the game might never have been close enough for the penalties to matter if not for Calvin Pickard in the Edmonton net. Pickard was stellar early, weathering a storm of high-danger chances from Montreal in the first period that kept the game within reach long before the third-period chaos ensued.
The Unsettled Score
In the end, the two points went to Edmonton. But for anyone who watched the game, the outcome feels hollow. Observers in Montreal were quick to label the finish an “absolute blatant robbery,” a case of officials inserting themselves so deeply into the narrative that they became the primary actors.
The NHL, as is its custom, will likely remain silent. But silence won’t placate a Montreal team that feels it was cheated, nor will it satisfy a fanbase that just watched a 5-on-5 masterclass be dismantled by the whistle.
Martin St. Louis threw down the gauntlet. The Oilers took the points. But the questions surrounding game management, official accountability, and what constitutes a “called” game will linger long after this one loss. The Canadiens may not have been “beaten,” but they were certainly defeated.
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