AP Photo by Ryan Remiorz  of The Canadien Press

There won’t be any heartbreaking conclusion to the regular season this year at least anyway. Well, up in Montreal at least as one of the NHL’s best stories continued with the Canadiens finally having what it took to get the better of rival Ottawa putting a seven spot on the board in a 7-5 playoff-clinching home win last night.

“It’s a big credit for all the players here,” defenseman Francis Bouillon told the Canadian Press after contributing a goal.

“It’s a big surprise—nobody was expecting that from the beginning of the season and we worked pretty hard all season long to be there. Tonight was a great victory for us.”

The Habs entered having dropped the first five to the Senators making many wonder if they could beat them. Proving a point, they scored the first three in a dominant first period forcing Martin Gerber to be yanked. Andrei Kostistyn notched his 24th and 25th sandwiched around Long Island native Chris Higgins’ 23rd.

Ray Emery wasn’t much better allowing four more in the middle stanza including an Andrei Markov power play tally and Tom Kostopoulos’ shorthanded marker with 46 seconds left which made it 7-1.

Outplayed severely, the Sens responded with a dominant third outscoring Les Habitants 4-0 and outshooting them 14-2. Sizzling sniper Dany Heatley tallied twice to pull within one of 40. The ex-Thrasher’s hit for 50 his first two seasons up in Kanata but won’t reach that mark again due to missing double digits.

“We kind of got a little settled down and too relaxed and they really picked up their game,” Kostopoulos later said. “The combination of the two led to a strong third period for them and a weak one for us but we were fortunate that we had a big enough lead to hold onto the game.”

Jason Spezza’s 32nd via the power play with 1:58 left made it interesting but Calder hopeful Carey Price made 31 saves to pickup his 20th win of the season.

Notes: Montreal leading scorer Alexei Kovalev notched two assists hiking his point total to 79 (33-46-79). Thirty-two points more than the previous season. … Ottawa team captain Daniel Alfredsson had three helpers in a losing cause. … Senator deadline D pickup Mike Commodore registered an assist for a second consecutive game after having previously gone 23 straight without a point. … With a goal and assist, Markov increased his career season to 57 points (16-41-57) boosting his chances of being nominated for the Norris. … Gerber made 11 saves while replacement Emery fared little better turning aside 14 of 18 for the Sens, who now trail the Canadiens by seven points in the Northeast. … Montreal also got unexpected help from the Islanders, who got a goal and assist from captain Bill Guerin and 28 saves from Wade Dubielewicz in a 4-1 home win over the Atlantic-leading Penguins. The Pens trail the Habs by three for the conference lead and take a two-point lead into New Jersey later tonight. The Devils are seeking redemption for their worst defeat of the season (7-1 road blowout Saturday). … At least 14 Canadiens got on the scoresheet with just captain Saku Koivu, Steve Begin, Ryan O’Byrne and Josh Gorges failing to do so.