The Canadiens are suddenly at the center of a massive suspension controversy

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Vincent Carbonneau
May 24, 2026  (5:14)

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Alexandre Texier put Martin St-Louis in a brutal spot with a late sequence the Canadiens can't really defend.

That is the whole controversy.

Texier was given only 2 minutes after his clash with K'Andre Miller near the end of the second period, and that call has people all over hockey arguing the Canadiens got away with one.

Because the reaction was immediate.

One post flatly said Texier was «only given TWO MINUTES» and argued the play was clearly a spear that should have brought an automatic match penalty.

That is why this one is not fading quietly.

Another reaction came in even hotter. Dave McCarthy wrote, «Alexandre Texier knows what he did. And it should not be done.»

That line hit because it cut through the usual playoff excuse-making.

The clip is the problem.

When a player gets called for slashing but the replay makes people think spear first, the argument changes fast. Nobody is debating whether there was contact. The debate is whether the officials badly undersold what it was.

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That is the part Montreal has to live with now.

Even if the league leaves it there, the hockey world is going to keep looking at the sequence like the Canadiens caught a break.

And honestly, it is hard to blame people for that read.

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Texier does not get much cover here. Playoff hockey is messy, scrums happen, sticks get up, and everyone knows the temperature rises. But there is still a line, and this looked a lot closer to crossing it than the 2-minute punishment suggests.

That matters for St-Louis too.

He has built a lot of this run on discipline, structure, and making the other team lose composure first. A play like this drags Montreal into a different kind of spotlight.

Not the good one.

The Canadiens can say they will take any edge they can get in May. That is true. Every team does.

But there is a difference between surviving a borderline call and acting like nothing happened.

Something happened here.

And the reason this is getting traction is simple. People watching that replay do not see a harmless little slash. They see a player very lucky not to be staring at something much worse.

That is why this controversy has legs.

Texier escaped with 2 minutes.

He may not escape the reputation of the clip that came with it.

Previously

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12 HOURS AGO   |   521 ANSWERS The Canadiens are suddenly at the center of a massive suspension controversy Should Alexandre Texier have been thrown out instead of getting only 2 minutes ?

▢    Yes

▢    No

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