MONTREAL -- A season that started off with so much promise but ultimately went awry, ended on a positive note for the Montreal Canadiens.

Alex Galchenyuk and Max Pacioretty each scored a pair of goals to reach 30 goals, and each added an assist to lift the Canadiens to a 5-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in their regular-season finale on Saturday night at the Bell Centre.

"That reception we got after the game, I know a couple of guys got a little emotional," said Pacioretty, who hit the 30-goal mark for a third straight season. "We don't want to be in this position but it's really, really nice to see that support. The fans know that we've worked really hard this year and we faced a lot of adversity. We know we have to be better from it."

Tomas Plekanec also scored a goal for the Canadiens, who closed out a disappointing season with a 38-38-6 record after blazing out of the gates with a 9-0 mark.

Ondrej Palat and Jonathan Drouin scored for Tampa Bay (46-31-5), which lost Tyler Johnson in the first period after he fell into the boards following a hit by Canadiens defenseman Greg Pateryn.

"One thing about this game is there's honor and there's respect and that kid showed a blatant disregard for both," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of the hit, which earned Pateryn a five-minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. "That was egregious, what happened. There's no place for it.

"I'm at a loss for words on what happened. Hopefully he's going to be OK."

Mike Condon stopped 20 shots for Montreal and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 24 saves for Tampa Bay.

The Canadiens took advantage of some hesitance from Vasilevskiy behind the net to open the scoring at 5:11 of the first period.

The Lightning goaltender went to play a Montreal pass attempt that went behind his net but took too long to make a play, allowing time for Brendan Gallagher to get in on the forecheck. The winger got his stick on it first and sent it to Galchenyuk, who made no mistake while putting it into an empty net.

Plekanec showed off his hands to double Montreal's lead at 16:27. With the teams playing 4-on-4, Lars Eller carried the puck through the neutral zone before dishing off to the center just inside the Tampa blue line. Plekanec skated around Carle before deking out Vasilevskiy with a backhand.

The ice was barely dry when Pacioretty added to the lead in the second period. Galchenyuk stopped short along the right wall inside the Lightning zone before feeding Pacioretty. The Canadiens captain skated just inside the top of the right circle before wristing a perfect shot just 27 seconds into the period.

Galchenyuk's second of the night and 30th of the season made it 4-0 Montreal just over three minutes later on the power play. Vasilevskiy stopped Markov's shot from the point, but the rebound bounced to Pacioretty at the side of the net. He tried to corral the puck, but it found its way to Galchenyuk in the circle.

"It felt good," Galchenyuk said of hitting the plateau. "I tried not to think about it as much as I could. I just tried to come in and play my game. I knew that the way the three of us were playing, we'd create chances and have opportunities to score goals, and I'm glad we created as a line today and I'm glad Patch scored 30, too, which is even better."

With the goal, the center, at 22 years and 57 days, became the third youngest Canadiens player to score 30 goals in a season, after Bernard Geoffrion and Stephane Richer.

The Lightning thought they had busted Condon's shutout just over three minutes into the third period when Mike Blunden appeared to poke the puck past the goaltender.

Called a goal on the ice, Montreal coach Michel Therrien challenged it for goaltender interference. After review, the goal was overturned, with officials saying Blunden pushed Condon into the net.

The Lightning finally scored a few minutes later when Palat fired a shot from the bottom of the circle that hit the net camera and bounced out at 6:33 of the third period.

The goal was Tampa's first against Montreal since midway through the third period on Feb. 9, snapping a shutout streak at 117:30.

Drouin cut the deficit in half at the 13-minute mark. Matt Carle was denied by Condon when he tried to beat the goaltender on a wraparound, but Drouin, who was left uncovered after Andrei Markov left his position, poked home the loose puck for his fourth goal of the season.

"As the games go on, I think I feel more comfortable," said Drouin, who now has goals in back-to-back games since being recalled from the AHL. "Getting my feet wet Thursday, takes a little time adjust to the speed and the game. As ice time goes up and all that stuff, my confidence is going up, and I feel comfortable.

Pacioretty sealed the win with his 30th goal of the season into an empty net.

NOTES: LW Paul Byron, recipient of the Canadiens' Jacques Beauchamp-Molson Trophy as the team's "unsung hero," suited up for his 200th NHL game. ... RW Brian Flynn returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury against Tampa Bay on Feb. 9. ... The Lightning scratched several players nursing injuries ahead of the playoffs, with RW Nikita Kucherov (undisclosed), RW Ryan Callahan (lower body) and D Victor Hedman (upper body) all sitting out. ... C Jonathan Marchessault drew back into the Tampa lineup after being scratched Thursday against New Jersey. ... Montreal scratched LW Stefan Matteau and RW Mike Brown.