St. Louis says Wild’s Hughes ‘sold’ broken stick as late penalty sinks Canadiens

MONTREAL — Martin St. Louis was proud of his team’s effort Tuesday night.

He just believes they weren’t given a fair chance to win.

Montreal (11-3-4) fell 2-1 in overtime to the Minnesota Wild (13-3-4), losing on Kirill Kaprizov’s power-play goal after Quinn Hughes’ broken stick resulted in a questionable slashing penalty against the Canadiens.

“I thought he sold it,” the Canadiens coach said. “I thought he created the broken stick, if you watch it.”

With 56 seconds remaining in regulation, Hughes’ blade broke from the shaft of his stick as Canadiens winger Cole Caufield pressured him along the end boards. Hughes put his hands out and referee Justin Kea quickly raised his arm to call a penalty, setting up Kaprizov’s 17th goal of the season on a one-timer 21 seconds into overtime.

The game otherwise unfolded much to St. Louis’ liking. It began with a scintillating ovation for Carey Price, who was inducted into the Canadiens’ ring of honour, and featured a fitting goalie duel between Montreal’s Jacob Fowler and Minnesota’s Jesper Wallstedt.

It was a matchup of two teams with Stanley Cup aspirations playing tight-checking hockey, and the Canadiens spent long stretches in the Wild’s zone.

The way it ended, however, left a sour taste for St. Louis.

“It was just a great hockey game from both sides,” he said. “There wasn’t much room. Both teams had times in the O-zone. I felt both teams defended hard. But the only disappointment tonight is we don’t get the two points, and I wish we had an opportunity in overtime to get the two points. We didn’t.

“It’s too bad that it ends that way. It’s too bad,” he added. “I think we deserved much better than that.”

Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle logged 22 solid minutes, helping keep Minnesota’s top line of Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek and Matt Boldy off the scoresheet at even strength alongside partner Alexandre Carrier.

Guhle called it “frustrating” that a broken stick, resulting in a questionable call against the Canadiens, would happen in such a crucial moment.

“Sometimes sticks are basically broken before, and you get in a stick battle and they break,” Guhle said. “It’s frustrating for sure. Definitely not an ideal scenario for us.”

Veteran centre Phillip Danault had a harder time accepting the timing of the call.

“It happens so quickly, it’s hard to blame,” Danault said. “But it’s at the end of the game, so it’s a little bit touchy.”

Josh Anderson, meanwhile, viewed it as part of a larger trend involving the Canadiens. Montreal ranks second in the league with 85 minor penalties this season, and has the NHL’s worst net penalty differential at minus-18.

The Canadiens also took issue with the officiating Saturday, when defenceman Arber Xhekaj was the only player penalized during a third-period scrum in Montreal’s 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“You kinda look at the stat sheet, we’re the most penalized team. We talk about it all the time,” Anderson said. “I mean, some of them, it’s … I’ll just leave it at that, honestly. It is what it is.”

As for composite sticks breaking at the inopportune times, St. Louis didn’t have a solution.

“Hockey sticks are very different from when I was growing up, when I joined the league,” the Hall of Famer said. “But at the same time, the technology of hockey sticks is the reason why shooting is where it is, you know? It’s not just negative, the sticks.

“But it’s too bad when they break, that’s for sure.”

CA-REY! CA-REY!

Price, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday in Toronto, received a nearly four-minute ovation before puck drop as fans serenaded him with a blend of “Ca-rey! Ca-rey!” and “Olé, Olé” chants.

The former Hart Trophy winner’s presence seemed to rub off on Wallstedt and Fowler, who stopped 27 and 22 shots respectively to make their best impressions of Price in the mid-2010s at the Bell Centre.

“I guess it worked out that way, but it was really cool to soak in the moment and to see him and just be a part of it was special,” said Fowler, a 21-year-old rookie whose stoic, well-positioned style resembles the way Price manned the crease. “There’s just a sour taste to lose it after.”

TOUGH BOUNCE

After two periods without a goal, Bobby Brink broke the deadlock 2:53 into the third for Minnesota when he beat Fowler glove side on a breakaway.

The 25-year-old capitalized after Canadiens Anderson came off the bench and bobbled a bouncing puck onto Brink’s stick after Montreal had spent a long stretch in Minnesota’s zone.

“Their first goal was a bad bounce. We were in the zone for a long time and they were burned out, and they get a breakaway,” St. Louis said. “But we stayed on task. It’s just too bad we didn’t get the chance to push that into overtime at even strength. It’s disappointing.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 10, 2026.

Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press