MONTREAL, Quebec, April 9 (UPI) -- On an emotional night at the Molson Centre that marked the return of Saku Koivu, the homestanding Montreal Canadiens ended a three-year playoff absence by holding on for a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators.
The three-year postseason drought matched the longest in the history of the NHL's most storied franchise. The 23-time Stanley Cup champions also missed the playoffs three straight seasons during their infancy from 1920-22.
From 1927-1994, Montreal missed the Stanley Cup playoffs only four times.
Participating in the celebration was Koivu, the Canadiens' captain who returned to the lineup less than seven months after being diagnosed with stomach cancer.
The 27-year-old Koivu said in February that his cancer was in full remission and that he hoped to return by the end of the season. He had been practicing with the team for several weeks.
At Koivu's request, the Canadiens did not conduct a pregame ceremony, but he received an eight-minute standing ovation before the opening faceoff.
Montreal appeared to be in control after taking a 3-0 lead on second-period goals by Andreas Dackell, Craig Rivet and Richard Zednik, but the Canadiens had to hold off a furious rally by Ottawa over the final 20 minutes to post their seventh straight victory.
After Shawn McEachern's power-play goal got the Senators on the board 34 seconds into the third, Yanic Perreault scored just over four minutes later to make it 4-1, but Chris Neil and
Marian Hossa scored 16 seconds apart, pulling the Senators within a goal with 12:37 left in the contest.
The loss kept the Senators two points behind Toronto in the battle for home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
