Canadiens advance past Lightning, Bruins shut out Red Wings

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The Canadiens swept their best-of-seven series with a 4-3 victory in game four on Tuesday, getting past a defiant Lightning outfit that did not lie down.

Montreal opened up 2-0 and 3-1 leads, only to be pegged back at 3-3 by goals early in the third period to Victor Hedman and Tyler Johnson.

The Montreal faithful would have been preparing for overtime, before Max Pacioretty's powerplay goal with 43 seconds of regulation remaining sealed the series win.

Leading the race to play the Canadiens are the Boston Bruins, who took a 2-1 lead in their series with the Detroit Red Wings.

The Bruins made it consecutive victories after losing the series opener, as they shut out Detroit on Red Wings ice 3-0.

Dougie Hamilton and Jordan Caron struck in the first period, before Patrice Bergeron's empty-netter inside the final two minutes sealed a clutch victory for Boston.

The New York Rangers regained the lead in their series with the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1, after a 4-1 victory in game three.

The Rangers made the most of their 23 shots on goal, with each of Derek Stepan, Martin St Louis, Dan Girardi and Daniel Carcillo on target.

The San Jose Sharks are one win away from progressing past the first round of the play-offs, after taking a 3-0 series lead over the Los Angeles Kings.

The Sharks arrested a third-period deficit on Tuesday, to record a 4-3 overtime win - with Patrick Marleau scoring the winner.

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