Montreal Canadiens on the wrong side of the worst penalty of the season

The Montreal Canadiens were able to keep pace with the Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning in the Atlantic Division thanks to some late-game heroics by Cole Caufield, who scored the winning goal with 15 seconds left. That was certainly the play talked about most, but after that, it was a phantom penalty called on Lane Hutson in the second period.

Towards the end of the period, the Canadiens had the power play after Ryan Hartman was called for interference. However, the man advantage only lasted about 30 seconds as Lane Huston would be called for tripping as Montreal was bringing the puck up the neutral zone.

The problem is that Huston was not anywhere near Marcus Foligno or in a position to trip him, and it is clear that Foligno just trips over himself. Everyone from Hutson to head coach Martin St. Louis, to fans in the arena and watching at home, was shocked that it was called, but unfortunately, that is not something that is able to be reviewed.

Refs cost Lane Hutson and the Montreal Canadiens a chance to take control of the game

After a breakout season as a rookie, Lane Huston seemingly is only getting better as he now has 52 points in 50 games after 66 points last season. He made an impact once again in this game as he gave the Canadiens the lead earlier in the second period with a goal to make the score 3-2.

The Canadiens had a great chance to take control late in the second period and extend their lead to two with the power play. That chance was then lost with the awful penalty on Hutson.

While neither team scored in the 4-on-4 and the Wild didn't capitalize with the man advantage for about 30 seconds in the third, it really killed the momentum that Montreal had. The Wild would then tie it up in the third period before the Canadiens secured the win in the closing seconds.

After the game, Martin St. Louis was asked about his thoughts on the play, and he didn't really want to answer. He was also asked what his message was to his team after a call like that, and he kept it very short by saying, "Life isn't fair. Sometimes you just have to deal with it."

That is exactly what the Canadiens did as they were eventually able to get the win and now turn their focus to the Buffalo Sabres who will be there Thursday.