Montreal police are asking for the public's help identifying people who looted stores after celebrations of the Canadiens' playoff win against Pittsburgh last Wednesday night.

Investigators have released 10 pictures of looters on Ste-Catherine Street after Montreal knocked the Penguins out of the playoffs.

Thousands of people who watched the game at the arena took to the streets. But the chanting and dancing degenerated around midnight, when a small group threw beer bottles at police and smashed store windows.

So far, 45 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, said police.

Several other people have come forward with photos and video of suspected looters.

"You do see people coming out from businesses with stuff that they stole, so this is very good [visually], and it's quite clear that these people were committing something criminal," Sgt. Ian Lafrenière said.

Police may add cameras

Police are also using footage from the more than 2,000 closed-circuit security cameras on the island, many of which are downtown.

At least two people have been arrested after police identified them in images taken on the street, Lafrenière said.

Police have blamed the violence on a small minority of the thousands of people celebrating the Habs' win. Meanwhile, real Habs fans are giving police images that might help them find the offenders, Lafrenière said.

"A lot of people are upset with [what happened]," he said. "That's the reason why the message is quite strong.

"If you're there to celebrate, you're more than welcome [but] if you're there to cause a commotion, police are there and also citizens, and they don't tolerate that."

Police have not decided whether they will close part of Ste-Catherine Street to traffic for Thursday night's game against the Flyers — the first third-round game to be played at the Bell Centre in Montreal.