The Boston Bruins consolidated their spot inside the NHL's Eastern Conference wildcard places with a 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday, while the Ottawa Senators kept up the pressure.
The Bruins (91 points) occupy the second of two wildcard spots in the East, behind the Washington Capitals (94) but clear of the Senators (88).
Boston have played one more game than Ottawa, however, meaning maintaining their breathing space is crucial - as their win on Tuesday was.
The Bruins trailed the Panthers 2-1 heading into the final period but David Pastrnak tied the game with little over 10 minutes to play.
Ryan Spooner got the assist for Pastrnak's goal, as he did for Milan Lucic's winner with 69 seconds of regulation to play - sealing another vital win for the Bruins' post-season hopes.
Florida's hopes of a wildcard were virtually killed off, as the loss leaves them six points outside a post-season place with only five matches to play.
The Senators though, remain well and truly alive for a wildcard, after a 2-1 shoot-out win over the Detroit Red Wings.
Ottawa similarly came from behind in regulation, Clarke MacArthur's goal with four minutes, two seconds to play tying the scores after Detroit's Gustav Nyquist opener in the second period - and Mark Stone scored the shoot-out winner.
The Caps coughed up a two-goal lead, but recovered to see off the Carolina Hurricanes 4-2 - with Alex Ovechkin scoring his 50th goal of the season in the process.
Washington are just one point behind Metropolitan's second-placed team - the Pittsburgh Penguins - but the Caps occupy a wildcard spot.
In the Western Conference, the Winnipeg Jets led twice but failed to hold off the rampaging New York Rangers, who were 3-2 winners.
The Jets (90 points) hold the second wildcard in the West but the Los Angeles Kings (88) have a game in hand and are sweating on their post-season place.
Meanwhile, the Rangers kept up their push for the Presidents' Trophy - moving to 103 points, two shy of the NHL-leading Anaheim Ducks but with two games in hand.
Level on points with the Rangers are the Nashville Predators, after they were beaten 5-4 in a shoot-out by the Vancouver Canucks.
Nashville remain clear top of the West's Central standings, four points above the St Louis Blues.
The Columbus Blue Jackets' seventh straight win was officially in vain, as Tuesday marked the end of their mathematical chances of reaching the play-offs.
Despite a hot streak that most recently saw them beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 in overtime, the Blue Jackets (78 points) had already given too much ground to Boston - hence, the end to their wildcard aspirations.
The Tampa Bay Lightning blew the chance to move top of the East's Atlantic division, going down 3-1 to the lowly Toronto Maple Leafs.