New Jersey Devils goalie Cory Schneider sprays water on his face during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres, Tuesday, April 5, 2016, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
New Jersey Devils goalie Cory Schneider sprays water on his face during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Buffalo Sabres, Tuesday, April 5, 2016, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Boston — One point was better than none. It still wasn’t enough for the Boston Bruins as they try to move into playoff position.

Noah Hanifin scored the only goal of a shootout in the fifth round to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat Boston 2-1 on Tuesday night and dent the Bruins’ playoff hopes. Boston earned one point to move into a three-way tie with Detroit and Philadelphia for the last two Eastern Conference playoff spots, but both of those teams have more games remaining.

“This time in the season, when you lose games, it’s always tough,” said Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask, who stopped 27 shots, plus the first four of the shootout. “They’re all do-or-die now.”

Cam Ward made 35 saves for the Hurricanes, who have already been eliminated from the playoff race. Loui Eriksson’s third-period tying goal helped the Bruins force overtime and earn one point.

The Flyers have four games remaining and Detroit has three, including Thursday night against Boston.

“We have two games left and we still need to look at the next one and be extremely prepared for that,” forward Brad Marchand said. “We have to let this one go and be ready.”

Jaccob Slavin scored Carolina’s goal in regulation.

Slavin scored for Carolina with just under 2 minutes left in the first period, and it was still 1-0 when Ericksson was sent off for tripping with half a minute left in the second. He came back early in the third just as a clearing pass was skittering in front of the Carolina bench, with the Hurricanes making a casual line change.

Eriksson crossed the ice, picked up the puck as the departing Hurricanes climbed over the boards and skated in alone on Ward before reaching around him to deposit the puck in the net.

Sabres 3, Devils 1

Newark, n.j. — Jack Eichel got his 24th goal and Ryan O’Reilly got his 21st to help Buffalo beat New Jersey.

Johan Larsson also scored and Chad Johnson made 18 saves for the Sabres.

Islanders 4, Capitals 3 (ot)

Washington — Thomas Hickey scored in overtime as New York rallied from two goals down in the third period to beat Washington to clinch a playoff berth.

Hickey returned to the game after being cut by a skate and beat Braden Holtby 2:13 into overtime to complete the comeback.

Holtby allowed four goals on 27 shots and lost in his first attempt to tie Martin Brodeur’s single-season wins record.

Rangers 3, Lightning 2

New York — Derek Stepan scored twice and set up Chris Kreider’s winner while rallying New York over playoff-bound Tampa Bay.

Henrik Lundqvist withstood a 21-shot first-period barrage and finished with 39 saves as the Rangers won their second straight game. Mats Zuccarello added two assists for New York, which will be without captain Ryan McDonagh for the final week of the regular season because of an upper-body injury.

Panthers 4, Canadiens 1

Montreal — Roberto Luongo made 32 saves and Aleksander Barkov got his 28th goal to help the Florida beat Montreal for its fourth straight win.

Nick Bjugstad, Greg McKegg and Jiri Hudler also scored for playoff-bound Florida, and Jaromir Jagr had two assists.

Florida set a franchise record with its 99th point in a 4-3 win over Toronto on Monday night.

Penguins 5, Senators 3

Ottawa — Sidney Crosby and Carl Hagelin each scored twice and Pittsburgh beat Ottawa for its seventh straight victory.

Crosby’s pair included an empty-netter and Patric Hornqvist also scored for Pittsburgh. Rookie goaltender Matt Murray made 27 saves.

Predators 4, Avalanche 3

Nashville, Tenn. — Craig Smith scored at 4:17 of the third period, and Nashville eliminated Colorado from playoff contention.

With the win, the Predators snapped their own four-game winless skid that started with a loss to Colorado in Nashville on March 28.

Sharks 3, Wild 0

St. Paul, Minn. — James Reimer made 29 saves for his third shutout in eight games and San Jose beat playoff-bound Minnesota.

Minnesota lost its fourth straight game and second straight with a chance to clinch a playoff berth but backed into a postseason spot when Colorado lost to Nashville on Tuesday night.

Patrick Marleau scored twice and Logan Couture added his fifth goal in the past four games for San Jose, which owns an NHL-high 28 road wins this season.

Devan Dubnyk made 17 saves for the Wild.