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MONTREAL — The Montreal Canadiens faithful exhibited their appreciation with an earsplitting ovation in final minute of the Habs regular-season finale, but nobody was more gratified than Canadiens coach Guy Carbonneau.
"It has been a dream year," said Carbonneau, after his team sent the Toronto Maple Leafs to another long summer with a 3-1 victory.
"In our room, we believed we could make the playoffs. Is it better than I expected? It's been unbelievable … It's been a lot of fun."
The Montreal fans started their rousing ovation with a minute to go in the game and cranked up the volume after the final horn sounded. Even Carbonneau and his assistant coaches, Kirk Muller and Doug Jarvis, applauded from behind the bench.
Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price makes a save during the second period of the Habs' 3-1 win over Toronto in Montreal on Saturday. (Christinne Muschi/Reuters)
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The players gathered a centre ice afterwards. They raised their sticks in unison to salute the crowd.
"It's pretty special to play in this city," said Canadiens forward Christopher Higgins, who scored twice against the Leafs. "I wish every city was like this to play in, but it doesn't compare to here."
The atmosphere will amp up next week when the Habs clash with the Boston Bruins in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The series is likely to begin on Thursday. It's the perfect match-up for the Canadiens because they won each of the eight games between the teams this season.
"I've mentioned this many times, the playoffs are different," Montreal forward Alex Kovalev said. "It doesn't matter what happened in the regular season.
"The last time we beat Boston [in 2004] our coach was [Claude Julien]. He wants to win on the other side now."
The Canadiens still can claim their first NHL Eastern Conference regular-season title since 1988-89 if the Philadelphia Flyers manage to knock off the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday. But no matter what the outcome of that game is Montreal gets Boston in the first round.
The situation is different for the Ottawa Senators. If the Penguins beat the Flyers, they will play Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. If the Flyers win, the Senators will meet up with Sidney Crosby and the Penguins.
Montreal notched its 48th win of the season to match their output the last time the Canadiens won the Stanley Cup, 15 years ago.
Prior to the game, Kovalev was presented the Canadiens player-of-the-year award and received the sort of standing ovation from the capacity crowd of 21,273 at the Bell Centre usually reserved for legends of the storied franchise.
Kovalev's father, Viacheslav, was in the crowd, making his first visit to Montreal.
"I'm glad my father was here to see that," he said. "I played with Gretzky, Messier and Kevin Lowe with the New York Rangers and won the Stanley Cup there, but nothing compares to what happened before the game."
Kovalev, 35, constructed the second best statistical year of his career with 35 goals and 84 points. His best season was in 2000-01 when he scored 44 times and checked in with a point total of 95.
The Russian star added his final point in the second period when he sent a pass back to defenceman Mark Streit at the blue line. Streit drifted a shot at the net that Toronto goalie Andrew Raycroft whiffed on for the game's first goal.
Raycroft was beaten on the short side by Higgins a few shifts after Streit's weak goal. The 2-0 lead prompted Leafs coach Paul Maurice to call a timeout and blast his players.
Toronto was able to get on the scoreboard when Kris Newbury set up Mark Bell for his fourth goal in 35 games this season. Higgins added a power-play goal in the third period.
The Leafs finished their dreadful season with only 83 points for their lowest point total since picking up 69 in 1997-98, back when there wasn't an extra point awarded for an overtime or shootout loss. The Leafs can finish no better than 23rd in the 30-team league this season, but if the Phoenix Coyotes manage a point on the road against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, Toronto would drop to 24th.
The Canadiens faithful reminded the Leafs, who will miss the playoffs for the third spring in a row, about the franchise's struggles by chanting "Sixty-seven, sixty-seven" in the second period. The Leafs, of course, haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1967.
Notes: Canadiens captain Saku Koivu said he won't know for another couple of days whether his fractured left foot will feel enough to play in Montreal's playoff opener … Gregory Stewart of Kitchener, Ont. made his NHL debut for the Canadiens. The former Peterborough Petes left wing was drafted 246th overall in the 2004 NHL draft and worked his way up from the ECHL. Toronto defenceman Bryan McCabe slashed and speared the youngster before the two fought in the dying seconds of the contest. "I finished my check and he didn't like it. He slashed me and I wasn't going to take it, so I asked him if he wanted to go," Stewart said. McCabe received an extra penalty for slashing … Canadian environmental activist David Suzuki and former United States vice-president Al Gore were among the crowd at the Bell Centre.
