MONTREAL (AP) — Kaiden Guhle scored twice and the Montreal Canadiens wrapped up the last Eastern Conference playoff spot with a 4-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night in their regular-season finale.
The Canadiens needed at least a point to eliminate Columbus from playoff contention. They will face Washington in the first round.
Nick Suzuki broke a tie late in the second period with his 30th goal and also had an assist, Jake Evans had an empty-net goal, and Sam Montembeault made 27 saves to help Montreal finish 40-31-11 and reach the playoffs for the first since 2021.
Taylor Hall and Tyson Jost scored for Carolina, and Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 17 shots. Playoff-bound Carolina rested several key players. The Hurricanes will face New Jersey in the first round.
Montreal missed opportunities to wrap up the playoff spot in its three previous games. The Canadiens lost in regulation to Ottawa before falling in overtime to Toronto and a shootout against Chicago.
Takeaways
Canadiens: Suzuki and Guhle scored 2:26 apart late in the second period to give the Canadiens a 3-1 lead. The goals came after Carolina controlled play most of the period, outshooting Montreal 14-5.
Hurricanes: Regulars Sebastian Aho, Jaccob Slavin, Jalen Chatfield, Jordan Staal, Seth Jarvis, Jordan Martinook and Jackson Blake sat out. Skyler Brind’Amour, the son of Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour, made his NHL debut, marking the eighth time in league history a player had his father as head coach.
Key moment
Suzuki received a pass from Alexandre Carrier at the left circle before calmly picking his spot short-side on Kochetkov to made it 2-1.
Key stat
Montreal’s Lane Hutson had his 60th assist to tie Larry Murphy (1980-81) for the most by an NHL rookie defenseman in a season.
Up next
The Hurricanes close the regular season at Ottawa on Thursday night.