Things take a turn for the worse after Canadiens players and coaches get caught partying: "Inappropriate"

Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Jakub Dobes and Brendan Gallagher joined Luke Combs on stage at Parc Jean-Drapeau Saturday night, shotgunning beers less than 24 hours after Carolina ended their season in five games.

Sid Seixeiro called the whole scene inappropriate on his show, questioning Martin St-Louis drinking publicly with his young players after videos and pictures leaked.

The take generated plenty of conversation.

Montreal played 19 playoff games in 41 days. Carolina played 13. The Canadiens ground through two seven-game series against Tampa Bay and Buffalo before running into a fully rested Hurricanes squad that had swept its way to the Eastern Conference Final.

That schedule gap showed up on the ice. Montreal managed just three shots in the third period of a Game 4 shutout loss.

The Hurricanes rattled off 10 straight goals across Games 3, 4 and the start of Game 5 before Caufield finally broke through.

Reports are already surfacing that Suzuki played through a torn thigh. Juraj Slafkovsky dealt with shoulder and leg injuries.

Noah Dobson reportedly couldn't close his hand. These are not minor ailments. These are the kind of injuries that shape off-season decisions for Kent Hughes and the entire front office.

The old-school crowd wants players mourning quietly after a loss. But this is a 25-year-old core that just completed the deepest playoff run in recent Canadiens history.

St-Louis built his coaching identity around treating his players like adults, and Saturday night was that philosophy on full display.

Fans searching for something to criticize after an Eastern Conference Final loss should redirect their attention.

The concert told us nothing new. The medical report will tell us everything about where this franchise goes from here.