Boston was 1-3-1 in its previous five previous games, losing ground in positioning for the playoffs.
Tuukka Rask made 30 saves for Boston. Patrice Bergeronscored less than a minute into the game, and Johnny Boychuk gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead midway through the second period.
The Hurricanes cut the lead to 3-2 on Erik Cole
In Nashville, Tenn., Martin Erat scored the only goal of the shootout to lead Nashville past Philadelphia.
Steve Sullivan, Erat, and Jerred Smithson scored for the Predators. Jeff Carter, Simon Gagne, and Chris Pronger had the Flyers’ goals.
Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne turned aside all three Flyers attempts in the shootout. Rinne finished with 42 saves.
The Predators carried a two-goal lead into the final period, but goals by Gagne and Pronger 3:04 apart tied the game late in the third.
In Atlanta, Buffalo’s Ryan Miller was pulled after giving up three goals in the first 6 minutes and Jim Slater’sthird-period goal gave Atlanta a win over the Northeast-leading Sabres.
After Miller’s early exit, Patrick Lalime shut out the Thrashers until Slater’s tiebreaking goal with 6:44 remaining. Niclas Bergfors’third assist set up Slater’s shot in front of the net.
The Sabres trailed 3-1 after the first period before tying the game early in the third period. Tim Kennedy deflected Steve Montador’s shot past Johan Hedberg for a 3-3 tie.
Matt Ellis and Jason Pominville also scored for the Sabres.
In New York, Sergei Kostitsyn snapped a third-period tie with a deflected goal and Montreal won its sixth straight.
Kostitsyn nudged the puck in front and was rewarded when it caromed in off the skate of Rangers forward Artem Anisimovat 5:59. Frustrated goalie Henrik Lundqvist bent over backward and stared at the ceiling in disgust.
Montreal’s winning streak is its longest since an eight-game spurt in 2006. The Canadiens built their playoff cushion over the ninth-place Rangers to seven points. New York dropped three points behind Boston and the Eastern Conference’s postseason cutoff.
In Sunrise, Fla., Brooks Laich scored twice and five other Washington players had goals to lift the short-handed Capitals past Florida.
The Capitals were without star Alex Ovechkin, suspended two games for a hit on Chicago’s Brian Campbell.
Nicklas Backstrom(notes), Eric Fehr(notes), Brendan Morrison, Jason Chimera and Alexander Semin each scored for the Capitals, who beat Florida for the sixth time this season.
Steven Reinprecht, Kamil Krepsand Michal Repik got goals for the Panthers.
Jose Theodore stopped 34 shots for the Capitals, while Florida’s Tomas Vokoun made 16 saves before he was replaced in the second period. Scott Clemmensen finished the game in goal for the Panthers, stopping 16 shots.
In Ottawa, Phil Kessel got his 26th goal and John Mitchell and Mikhail Grabovski scored 19 seconds apart in the second period to lead Toronto.
Kessel beat Brian Elliott for his fourth goal in four games 11:20 in. Mitchell made it 2-0 when he scored 4:33 into the second. His goal had not even been announced when Grabovski increased the lead to 3-0 with his ninth goal at 4:52.
Jonas Gustavsson stopped 30 shots for Toronto, which is last overall in the Eastern Conference with 60 points but has won four of five. Rickard Wallin scored into an empty net for the Maple Leafs.
Andy Suttonscored his first Ottawa goal late in the second.
In Tampa, Fla., Vernon Fiddler and Matthew Lombardi scored in a 2-minute span midway through the first period, Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 27 shots and Phoenix tied a franchise record with its 43 victory.
The Coyotes moved five points behind Western Conference-leading San Jose in the Pacific Division. Phoenix began the night tied with Vancouver for third place overall in the conference, but the Northwest Division-leading Canucks still hold the third seed.
The loss left the Lightning six points behind Boston for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
In St. Paul, Minn., Chuck Kobasew scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and Minnesota beat Edmonton for the 13th straight time at home.
Andrew Ebbett, Antti Miettinen and Martin Havlat also scored for the Wild, winners of three straight overall.
Marc Pouliot and Ryan Potulny scored for the last-place Oilers, who finished a four-game road trip without a win.
The Wild’s home winning streak over Edmonton is tied for the longest home winning streak against an opponent in the NHL, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
In St. Louis, Peter Mueller scored twice on a three-point game that matched his career best and Paul Stastnyhad his fifth goal in three games with two assists, helping Colorado sweep the season series against St. Louis.
The Blues had quick goals to start the first two periods, with Alex Steen matching the franchise record to start the game on his 20th goal at the 8-second mark and Patrik Berglund scoring at 34 seconds of the second to tie it at 2.
St. Louis flopped in its first home game since Feb. 13, dropping to an NHL-worst 12-17-5 at the Scottrade Center, and the Avalanche outscored them 21-8 over four games for their first season sweep since 2005-06.
In Dallas, Mike Ribeiro and Brenden Morrow each scored twice, including short-handed goals in the third period, Kari Lehtonen made 44 saves in his second start of the season, and Dallas boosted its fading playoff chances.
Brad Richards struck on the power play, and Brandon Segal added a goal for the Stars, who pulled seven points behind No. 8 Detroit in the Western Conference.
Toby Petersen and Steve Ott also scored, and Ribeiro and Morrow contributed two assists each as the Stars set a season high for goals.
Dan Boyle had a power-play goal and Devin Setoguchi scored at even strength for the Sharks, the Western Conference leaders by two points over runner-up Chicago.
In Vancouver, British Columbia, rookie John Tavaresbroke out of a scoring slump with two goals and three assists, and Dwayne Roloson made 35 saves to lead the New York Islanders.
Tavares, the first pick in last summer’s draft, burst into the NHL with rookie of the year expectations after 15 goals and 27 points in his first 32 games. But the 19-year-old came in with only three goals and nine points in his last 37 games before breaking out with his first five-point night.
Dylan Reese, Matt Moulson and Freddy Meyer also scored for the Islanders. Kyle Wellwood and Alex Burrows had the Canucks’ goals.
