Bruins maintain playoff position

Andrew Ference tied the game with 27 seconds left in regulation and Aaron Ward won it for Boston with 2:43 left in overtime Saturday as the Bruins beat Philadelphia 3-2 at Boston to stay ahead of the Flyers in the Eastern Conference playoff race.

Tim Thomas made 24 saves for Boston, stopping Jeff Carter on a breakaway with 2:55 left in overtime after Ference set him free with a turnover at the Flyers’ blue line. The Bruins charged back in the other direction, and Ward ended it with a slapper past Martin Biron.

Biron stopped 33 shots for the Flyers, who coughed up a chance to take over seventh place in the conference. Boston, which had won once in its previous seven games, took a two-point lead over eighth-place Philadelphia with 10 games to play.

Mike Richards scored for the Flyers in his return from a nine-game hamstring injury.

Sabres 6, Maple Leafs 2: At Toronto, Jason Pominville and Jochen Hecht each had a goal and two assists, and Buffalo moved within one point of the Eastern Conference’s postseason cutoff with a victory over the Maple Leafs.

Canadiens 3, Islanders 0: At Montreal, Jaroslav Halak stopped 30 shots for his first shutout of the season, and Roman Hamrlik, Alex Kovalev and Guillaume Latendresse scored for the Canadiens in a win over New York.

Predators 3, Red Wings 1: At Detroit, Rich Peverley’s second-period goal broke a tie and lifted Nashville to a win over the Red Wings to snap Detroit’s five-game winning streak.

Devils 4, Avalanche 2: At Denver, Martin Brodeur stopped 23 shots in reaching 40 wins for a record seventh time, Jay Pandolfo added a goal and an assist, and New Jersey snapped Colorado’s five-game winning streak at home by beating the Avalanche.

Canucks 4, Stars 3: At Dallas, Brendan Morrison scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period and added two assists to send Vancouver past the Stars after the Canucks had wasted an early three-goal lead.

Lightning 3, Rangers 0: At Tampa, Fla., Mike Smith made 20 saves to lead the Lightning past New York. Smith, acquired from Dallas on Feb. 26, has three shutouts in 29 games this season.

Wild 2, Kings 0: At St. Paul, Minn., Niklas Backstrom’s first shutout since October and Marian Gaborik’s 200th NHL goal helped Minnesota snap a five-game losing streak with a victory over Los Angeles.

Oilers 5, Coyotes 2: At Glendale, Ariz., Dwayne Roloson made 38 saves in his first start in six weeks to lead Edmonton to the victory over Phoenix for its fourth win in five games.

Ducks 5, Blues 2: At Anaheim, Calif., Rob Niedermayer broke open a tie game with a pair of third-period goals, Mathieu Schneider had a goal and two assists, and the Ducks beat St. Louis.

Former Canadien dies

Hall of Fame defenseman Ken Reardon has died following a lengthy illness in Montreal, the Montreal Canadiens announced. He was 86.