Fans can't believe the controversial call on Demidov's goal
Ivan Demidov and Martin St-Louis left Carolina furious after the Canadiens rolled to a 6-2 win in Game 1.
The loudest complaint from the Hurricanes side is not about the whole game.
It is about the sequence right before Demidov's goal that made it 4-1 for Montreal.
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Carolina voices online started hammering the officials after the play, arguing Alex Newhook got away with a hook before the Canadiens broke the other way and Demidov buried it.
Cory Lavalette's reaction was the one that set the tone. He wrote that Newhook escaped a blatant hook and that Demidov scored at the other end to make it 4-1.
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That is the part Hurricanes people cannot let go of this morning.
Because if the penalty gets called there, the rush never happens and the game maybe breathes a little differently.
But this is also where the complaint runs into a hard truth.
Carolina did not lose 3-2 on one missed call. Carolina got smoked 6-2 after Montreal hung 4 goals in the first period and took control of the night early.
Carolina can complain, but Montreal already knows this game
That is what makes the outrage a little rich from Montreal's side.
The file points out the Canadiens have already taken plenty from the officials through the first 2 rounds, and that they are the most penalized team of the 2026 playoffs with 245 penalty minutes.
So yes, the Hurricanes are fair to say a missed call can swing momentum.
But the Canadiens could say the same thing about a lot of whistles they have had to eat over the past few weeks.
That is playoff hockey. Some calls get made. Some do not. The teams that survive are usually the ones that stop waiting for fairness and keep skating.
Montreal did that in Game 1.
The Canadiens attacked off the rush, got production from all over the lineup, and turned Lenovo Center quiet fast. Demidov's goal became the flashpoint, but it also became part of a much bigger message.
Montreal was faster, sharper, and far more dangerous.
Now the heat moves straight into Game 2.
Carolina will try to turn the officiating anger into pushback, and Montreal will try to do what it did in the opener: play through the noise and keep the series tilted its way.
The Hurricanes can keep arguing the missed hook.
The Canadiens will happily keep the goal.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 21, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Juraj Slafkovsky | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Nick Suzuki | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Phillip Danault | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jake Evans | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kaiden Guhle | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alex Newhook | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Jackson Blake | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||