MONTREAL (AP) - Bryan Smolinski scored twice, Carey Price came
within 8:30 of posting his second straight shutout, and the
Montreal Canadiens beat Buffalo 3-1 on Thursday night, eliminating
the Sabres from the playoff race.
Chris Higgins also scored for Montreal, which is tied with
Pittsburgh atop the Eastern Conference with 102 points.
Both teams have one game left but the Canadiens need to finish
at least a point ahead of the Penguins to win the conference
because Pittsburgh has 47 wins, one more than Montreal.
The Canadiens host Toronto on Saturday night. The Penguins
complete their season Sunday in Philadelphia.
Ales Kotalik scored his 23rd goal during a 4-on-3 advantage
11:30 into the third with Buffalo already trailing 3-0.
The Sabres, who won the President's Trophy last year and went to
the conference final each of the last two seasons, needed at least
one point to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
Buffalo, which has 88 points, completes its schedule Saturday in
Boston and is assured of finishing 10th overall in the East.
Ryan Miller stopped 22 shots for the Sabres.
Named the NHL's rookie-of-the-month for March, Price made 27
saves and improved his record to 23-12-3 in 40 games. The
20-year-old goalie stopped 32 shots Tuesday as the Canadiens
clinched their first division title in 16 years with a 3-0 win in
Ottawa.
Montreal struck quickly midway through the first, scoring two
goals in 40 seconds to take a 2-0 lead.
Higgins opened the scoring on a power play 11:28 in when he beat
Miller for his 25th goal.
The soldout Bell Centre crowd of 21,273 was still celebrating
the Canadiens' opening goal when Smolinski made it a two-goal lead
with his seventh of the season at 12:08.
The 36-year-old veteran scored his second of the game - his
eighth overall in 63 games - 14:28 into the second to increase
Montreal's lead to three.
Notes: The Sabres last missed the postseason in 2003-04, their
third straight year out of the playoffs. ... The Canadiens last won
a conference title in 1988-89. They finished atop the Wales
Conference with a 53-18-9 record and went on to lose a six-game
final to the President's Trophy-winning Calgary Flames, the last
time the league's Nos. 1 and 2 teams met for the Stanley Cup. ...
Canadiens RW Matt D'Agostini made his NHL debut. D'Agostini, chosen
190th overall by Montreal in 2005, was recalled from Hamilton of
the AHL on Wednesday along with LW Gregory Stewart, who did not
dress.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)