The statistics are in, and fans of the Montreal Canadiens are not dreaming. The team has spent more time in the penalty box than any other team still playing this spring.
A graphic that’s been shared on social media this week, from @futurdgduCH, shows the 2026 playoff teams ranked by the number of penalty minutes. The Canadiens are at the top. Not by a little bit.
Montreal has collected 245 penalty minutes during the playoffs. The Buffalo Sabres are in second place with 215 minutes, and the Philadelphia Flyers are third with 190.
Now, look at the difference. The Carolina Hurricanes, who are Montreal’s current opponents, have only taken 131 minutes total. The Boston Bruins are in fifth place with 123 minutes.
There’s a big difference of 114 minutes between the Canadiens and the team they are facing right now. And this is just at the beginning of the series that started Thursday night.
Martin St-Louis has not made a big deal about it publicly, but every coach knows what those numbers mean. More times spent killing penalties. More energy used. More opportunities given to the other team.
St-Louis is facing a problem with discipline as they head into Game 2.
Here’s the surprising part. The Canadiens have managed all this and still won eleven playoff games.
They defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games and then took out the Sabres in seven games as well. That’s two back-to-back Game 7s, both away from home, and both with lots of short-handed shifts.
The graphic itself is clear and impactful. It’s just a simple ranked list, with Montreal at the top and Carolina near the bottom, and it doesn’t need any explanation.
Is it about discipline? Is it about the referees? Both points can be argued. What can’t be debated is how hard it’s made the job for Montreal’s penalty kill throughout the playoffs.
The Canadiens ended the regular season with a record of 48 wins, 24 losses, and 10 overtime losses for 106 points, which put them in sixth place overall. They didn’t make it this far by just hooking and slashing their way through the Eastern Conference.
But this team’s playoff performance has shown a whole new side when it comes to the referees. Carolina was one of the teams with the fewest penalties in the playoffs, which gives them an edge in special teams.
Game 1 already lost Carolina their advantage of playing at home in this series. The Hurricanes will really go after Montreal’s stick penalties in Game 2 on Saturday night.
If those penalties pile up again, we won’t be talking just about the calls made by the refs. We’ll be discussing if the Canadiens can stop making those mistakes.
The next hour will reveal which team makes changes first.
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