Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist, and Sam Montembeault made 28 saves for Montreal (40-31-11), which held on to eliminate the Columbus Blue Jackets and secure the second wild card from the Eastern Conference.
The Canadiens, who went 10-0-2 in their final 12 home games, had lost in three straight opportunities to clinch (0-1-2) before securing the last playoff spot available in their final regular-season game. They will face the Washington Capitals in the first round of the playoffs, which begin Saturday.
Montreal finished eighth in the Atlantic Division each of the previous three seasons and has never missed the playoffs more than three consecutive seasons.
Taylor Hall and Tyson Jost scored, and Pyotr Kochetkov made 16 saves for Carolina (47-29-5), which rested seven regulars and concludes its regular season at the Ottawa Senators on Thursday.
Forwards Jordan Staal, Seth Jarvis, Sebastian Aho, Jordan Martinook and Jackson Blake, and defensemen Jaccob Slavin and Jalen Chatfield did not dress for the Hurricanes, who will face the New Jersey Devils in the first round.
Guhle put the Canadiens up 1-0 at 3:50 of the first period. He took Juraj Slafkovsky’s backhand pass from the left point and scored on a wrist shot past Kochetkov’s blocker from the top of the right face-off circle to finish off a rush he began behind the Montreal net.
Hall tied it 1-1 at 9:56. He spun around to retrieve a rebound and scored on a wrist shot from low in the right face-off circle that deflected in off Guhle.
Suzuki gave the Canadiens a 2-1 lead at 16:22 of the second period. He settled Alexandre Carrier’s pass from the right point to set himself up for a wrist shot over Kochetkov’s right pad from the left face-off circle.
Guhle made it 3-1 with his second of the game at 18:48. He scored with a wrist shot from the top of the slot after moving up to take Cole Caufield’s pass back to the point.
Hutson got the secondary assist. With his 60th assist, he tied Larry Murphy’s single-season record for a rookie defenseman, set with the Los Angeles Kings in 1980-81.
Jost cut it to 3-2 at 14:10 of the third period when he put away a loose puck sitting behind Montembeault in the crease.
Jake Evans won a defensive zone face-off and quickly shot the puck from the circle into an empty net with 1:55 remaining for the 4-2 final.
The crowd rose to its feet after Evans’ goal and kept up the standing ovation before erupting with a massive cheer at the end of the game.
Forward Skyler Brind’Amour, the 25-year-old son of Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour, and defenseman Domenick Fensore each made his NHL debut for the Hurricanes. Forward Bradly Nadeau made his season debut for Carolina. Defenseman Riley Stillman was the fourth player recalled from Chicago of the American Hockey League on Tuesday in the Hurricanes lineup.
