MONTREAL — It took longer than they expected because they made it harder than it had to be. But the Detroit Red Wings finally clinched a playoff berth Thursday, in their second-to-last game of the season. And they backed their way in.
Lars Eller scored at 1:21 of overtime to lift the Montreal Canadiens to a 4-3 victory over the Red Wings at the Bell Centre. However, with the Boston Bruins’ 4-2 loss to the Florida Panthers, the Red Wings clinched a playoff berth. The Red Wings extended their playoff streak to 24 seasons, the longest current run in the four major professional sports. It is by far the longest active streak in the NHL (Pittsburgh, at eight seasons, has the second-longest run).
The Red Wings won’t know where they’ll finish in the Atlantic Division (third or fourth) or who they’ll play (Montreal, Tampa Bay or the New York Rangers) until after Saturday’s season finale at Carolina. Tomas Tatar, Pavel Datsyuk and Darren Helm scored for the Red Wings. Henrik Zetterberg had a pair of assists.
