NHL-Highlights of Tuesday's NHL games

March 31 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Tuesday's National Hockey League games: - - Bruins 3, Panthers 2 The Boston Bruins continued their late run at the NHL playoffs and effectively ended the Florida Panthers' chances by rallying for a dramatic 3-2 victory. Left winger Milan Lucic set up the tying goal 9:47 into the third period and then beat Roberto Luongo with the winner with 1:09 left. Boston (39-25-13) came into the game in the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot and they increased their lead over the 10th-place Panthers to six points and closed within two points of Detroit, who hold third in the Atlantic Division. The ninth-place Ottawa Senators beat Detroit in a shootout to remain three points back. - - Senators 2, Red Wings 1 (SO) Left winger Mark Stone and centers Mika Zibanejad and Kyle Turris scored in a shootout to give the Ottawa Senators a 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Ottawa left winger Clarke MacArthur scored the game-tying goal with 4:02 left in regulation. Right winger Gustav Nyquist scored a second-period goal for Detroit. The Senators (38-26-12) stayed within three points of the Bruins in the race for the second wild-card berth into the Eastern Conference playoffs. Boston pulled within two points of the third-place Red Wings (40-23-13) in the Atlantic Division. - - Capitals 4, Hurricanes 2 Washington Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin joined an elite group of Hockey Hall of Famers when he scored his 50th goal of the season, leading the Capitals to a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Ovechkin reached two milestones when he scored midway through the opening period of the Capitals' victory, their sixth in eight games. He became just the sixth player in NHL history to score 50 goals six times in his career, joining a group that includes Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky, who scored 50 goals nine times, and Marcel Dionne, Guy Lafleur and Mario Lemieux, each of whom notched 50 goals six times. Ovechkin also tied Peter Bondra for the most goals in Capitals history with 472. The Capitals (94 points) moved within one of the third-place New York Islanders and second-place Pittsburgh Penguins in the Metro Division. - - Canucks 5, Predators 4 (SO) Goalie Eddie Lack recorded 34 saves and stopped both attempts in the shootout, while center Nick Bonino and right winger Radim Vrbata scored as Vancouver recorded a 5-4 win over the Nashville Predators. The Canucks (45-27-5) moved four points ahead of the Calgary Flames for second place in the Pacific Division. The Predators (47-22-9) lost their second consecutive game but moved four points ahead of the St. Louis Blues for first place in the Central Division. Nashville tied it up with a fluke power-play goal at 14:57 of the third period when Bonino's clearance hit off the leg of Predators center Mike Fisher and bounced past Lack (16-11-4) for Fisher's 19th goal of the season. - - Rangers 3, Jets 2 Chris Krieder broke a 2-2 deadlock with 3:46 remaining in the third to give the New York Rangers to a 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets. Winger Mats Zuccarello and center Derek Brassard also scored for the Rangers (48-21-7), who snapped a two-game losing skid. Center Jim Slater and winger Lee Stempniak scored for the Jets (39-26-12), who sit two points ahead of Los Angeles in the last Western Conference playoff spot. - - Maple Leafs 3, Lightning 1 Toronto center Nazem Kadri had a goal and an assist as the Leafs defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-1. Toronto left winger David Booth and defenseman Morgan Rielly had the other goals while goaltender James Reimer made 40 saves. Right winger Ryan Callahan scored for Tampa Bay. - - Blue Jackets 3, Devils 2 (OT) Defenseman Jack Johnson scored 56 seconds into overtime leading the Columbus Blue Jackets to a 3-2 win over the New Jersey Devils. The Blue Jackets (37-35-4) won for the 10th time in 11 games. The Devils (31-33-13) lost their sixth successive game, with both goals scored by veteran left winger Mike Cammalleri, including a short-handed goal with 2:29 remaining in the third period to force overtime. - - (Editing by Ben Everill)