A controversial call just changed the tone of Canadiens-Lightning

Kaiden Guhle was whistled for a 4-minute high-sticking double-minor after Brayden Point took a stick to the face. The problem is what happened a second earlier.

Brandon Hagel interfered with Guhle. That's the contact that sent the Montreal defender's stick up and into his own teammate's opponent, Point, on the other side of the play.

Hagel was then penalized for interference on the same sequence. Two infractions on one shift, from two different teams, over a single collision.

Every player is responsible for the end of his stick. That's the rulebook, full stop. But when an opposing forward drives your arm upward, the standard gets harder to apply cleanly.

This is going to be the tone of the series. Tampa finished 50-26-6 with a plus-59 goal differential and the kind of skill that punishes indecision. Montreal arrived at 48-24-10 and will not back down.

Kent Hughes built a Canadiens group that can play any style. Jon Cooper's Lightning would prefer this series at track speed. Both coaches will push the envelope on what gets called.

Guhle, 24, played just 39 games this regular season at a $5.55 million cap hit. Losing him to a double-minor in a tight playoff opener is the exact trade Tampa would take every time.

Hagel, who posted a 36-goal, 74-point season, is the kind of player Cooper uses specifically to create these collisions.

He finished plus-34 and plays on the edge of the rulebook by design.

Point, for his part, skated off with blood on his face and came back. He closed the regular season with 50 points in 63 games, and the Lightning cannot afford to lose him the way they just lost Dominic James to a leg injury.

Arber Xhekaj is going to keep finishing checks. Martin St-Louis won't tell him to stop. Cooper won't tell Hagel to stop either.

Which leaves the officials with a long series of these calls in front of them, and a very short leash from two locker rooms that already don't trust the process.