Wild scenes erupted in Montreal as riot police moved into a massive Canadiens crowd
Alex Newhook and Martin St-Louis sent Montreal flying into the streets after the Canadiens punched through to the conference final.
That is what the city looked like right away. The clip showed crowds pouring into downtown Montreal after the overtime win, with red sweaters everywhere and the noise building fast.
That reaction was not hard to understand. Montreal had just survived another Game 7, this time beating Buffalo 3-2 in overtime to keep one of the wildest playoff runs in the league moving.
Once Newhook ended it, the release was instant.
Fans did not wait around. They spilled out into the downtown core, packed the sidewalks, and turned the area into a moving wall of celebration.
That is the part that always makes Montreal different in spring. A playoff win here does not stay inside the arena or inside living rooms for long.
It hits the street.
The early scene looked more like emotional overflow than organized celebration. People were chanting, filming, waving jerseys, and just trying to be part of the moment after another insane finish.
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Chaos broke out in Montreal as riot police charged into a huge Habs crowd
Then the tone changed.
A second clip showed riot police charging at the crowd and some kind of chemical irritant getting used in the middle of downtown. Once that happened, the energy shifted from party to scramble.
That is where the night gets messy. A city can celebrate hard after a win like that, but once police move in and fans start running, the story changes right away.
And that is why this became bigger than a simple postgame scene.
Montreal earned the emotional explosion. The Canadiens had just fought through a second straight seven-game series and grabbed a ticket to the Eastern Conference Final. Fans were always going to erupt after that.
But those street images also showed how thin the line can get between celebration and disorder in this market once the adrenaline takes over.
For St-Louis' team, the scene says a lot about what this run has become. This is no longer just a fun young group picking up a couple of playoff wins. This team has the city fully attached now.
That is powerful, and it is dangerous too.
Because once a run starts pulling thousands into the streets after midnight, every next win raises the temperature even more.
Montreal got its release after Newhook's goal. Then downtown reminded everyone how fast that release can turn chaotic when the crowd gets too big and the night gets too hot.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 18, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Bolduc | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Phillip Danault | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jordan Greenway | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alex Newhook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kaiden Guhle | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Beck Malenstyn | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan McLeod | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Owen Power | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zach Benson | - | - | - | |
| Bowen Byram | - | - | - | |
| Cole Caufield | - | - | - | |
| Kirby Dach | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||