For the second year in a row, the Montreal Canadiens are playoff bound. The team clinched Tuesday night despite losing 3-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning because the New Jersey Devils and Washington Capitalsboth lost. Montreal is currently third in the Atlantic Division and are fighting with Tampa for the second seed.

“It’s a relief to have qualified for the playoffs. If you look at our season as a whole, earning a playoff berth is an accomplishment in itself,” said Head Coach Michel Therrien. “The process that we go through in order to advance to the postseason is very demanding and very taxing. I would have liked that we’d qualified under better circumstances, but if you look at it on the whole, it’s a nice accomplishment.”

The loss to Tampa broke a five game winning streak for Montreal and came against the team Montreal will likely face in the first round. Under the new playoff format, second and third place teams in each division will face each other in the first round.

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