When Alex Ovechkin hosted Washington Capitals teammates for his 39th birthday dinner in September, he made it clear his focus for the next several months was on Stanley, not Wayne Gretzky.“He was talking not about the record,

If the answer is “no,” that’s OK. Montreal nearly backed its way into the playoffs and the Washington Capitals hit a rough patch of their own. Still, this matchup brings a whole bunch of juice — the most prolific goal scorer of all time, the East’s top team and the return of postseason hockey to one of the sport’s true epicenters.

Kaiden Guhle scored twice for the Montreal Canadiens, who clinched the final berth in the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 4-2 win against the visiting Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday.Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist and Sam Montembeault made 27 saves for the Canadiens (40-31-11,