NHL: 3 stories from Saturday night

The Canadiens are now guaranteed a spot it the postseason, but have their sights set much higher, the Battle of Ontario was surprisingly entertaining, and the Canucks earned a crucial point to stay in the playoff picture.

Here are three stories from Saturday night's NHL action:

Canadiens punch ticket to playoffs

It was obviously more of a formality than anything else, but the Canadiens ensured they will be playing beyond April 11 with a 3-2 victory over the Panthers.

To the delight of the Bell Centre crowd, Max Pacioretty provided the decisive marker in overtime to finally wrestle control of what had been a see-saw battle for three periods.

Montreal can also celebrate that they are the top team in the Eastern Conference with 102 points, one ahead of the New York Rangers.

The Presidents' trophy, which is awarded to the league's best team and ensures home ice advantage throughout the playoffs, is well within reach for Montreal.

Battle of Ontario lives on

While the rivalry between the Leafs and Senators may have lost some of its shine recent years, it was back in full force at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday.

Toronto played the role of spoiler by defeating the Senators 4-3 in overtime and snapped an ugly seven-game slide in the process.

Honourable mention goes to Tyler Bozak for recording a hat trick and to Eric Brewer for choosing an excellent time to score his first goal as a member of the Leafs.

Playing for pride is great, however the result had playoff implications for the Senators who fell out of the second wild card spot which the Bruins were able to reclaim by beating the Rangers.

Not a total loss for Canucks

Despite falling 4-3 to the Stars in overtime, the Canucks remained in second place in the Pacific Dvision, thanks in large part to the Wild taking care of business against the Kings.

Vancouver sits three points above Los Angeles in the standings with 91 points.

The outcome was looking grim late in the contest for the Canucks, but they scored in a 6-on-4 situation in the final minute of the third period to force the extra fame and come away with a point.