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The Ottawa Senators have already clinched their spot in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs. However, big games still remain on the regular-season schedule, including Friday’s home contest against a Montreal Canadiens squad that also has a lot on the line.

Ottawa (42-30-6, 90 points) currently holds the top wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, with the Canadiens (39-30-9, 87 points) in the second spot. While Montreal has not yet clinched — the Canadiens can Friday under several scenarios — the team can still catch the Senators and flip their seeds before the regular season ends next week.

For now, Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis is looking at the bigger picture as his team prepares for its final four regular season games.

“I think playing well down the stretch, clinching a playoff spot, is important,” St. Louis told reporters Thursday. “If we’re able to jump Ottawa, great, but I think our focus is to keep going forward.”

Thanks to a six-game winning streak, currently best in the NHL, Montreal is in a position to secure its first playoff bid since 2021. That’s when the Habs made a surprising run to the Stanley Cup Final. The team has finished last in the Atlantic Division in each of the last three seasons.

The Canadiens are led by a young core. Nick Suzuki, 25, has heated up down the stretch, scoring 17 points in his last 12 games. He’s had multi-point games in five of his last six, scoring six goals and adding six assists.

The center also leads Montreal with 86 points and is tied with defenseman Lane Hutson, 21, for the most assists with 58. Forward Cole Caufield, 24, tops the team with 37 goals.

In goal, Sam Montembeault has won his last five starts and has not allowed more than two goals in any of those games.

Ottawa earned its first playoff berth since 2017 on Tuesday when Montreal beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-1. That occurred moments after the Senators saw a three-game winning streak end with a 5-2 road defeat against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Coach Travis Green joked that he gave the players 30 seconds to celebrate the accomplishment. While he praised his team’s performance this season, he added making the postseason should become routine in the seasons ahead.

“I think the main focus is us getting our game ready for the playoffs,” he added. “Points still matter … we want to finish as high as we can.”

The Senators may also get a boost with the return of Nick Cousins as the team wraps up the regular season with a four-game homestand. The center has been sidelined since late January with a knee injury but returned to practice with the team on Thursday.

Cousins signed with the Senators as a free agent last summer after helping the Florida Panthers win their first Stanley Cup last season.

Defenseman Thomas Chabot has a three-game points streak for Ottawa. He had a goal and an assist in Tuesday’s loss at Columbus and had two assists in the team’s 4-0 home win Sunday over the Blue Jackets.

Goalie Linus Ullmark has won five of his last six starts and is coming off his fourth shutout of the season with Sunday’s win against Columbus.

–Field Level Media