WASHINGTON — Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin scored his National Hockey League-leading 50th goal of the season Tuesday in a 4-2 home victory over the Carolina Hurricanes.



The Russian superstar reached the 50-goal milestone for the sixth season in his 10-campaign NHL career.



Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy own the NHL record with nine 50-goal seasons but Ovechkin matched Guy Lafleur, Marcel Dionne and Mario Lemieux for third on the list.



“Every year, it’s harder and harder,” Ovechkin said. “But it’s a huge accomplishment with those names up there. It’s always nice. But every year, you don’t know what to expect from yourself, how you are going to play.”



Ovechkin’s 50th goal of the season, which came 11:12 into the first period and gave the Capitals a 2-0 lead, was his 472nd career goal, tying Petr Bondra for the Capitals’ all-time lead.



Ovechkin scored 52 goals as a rookie in the 2005-06 season and enjoyed his NHL-best 65-goal campaign in 2007-08 followed by 56 goals in 2008-09 and 50 in 2009-10.



After four seasons with no more than 38 goals, Ovechkin netted 51 goals in the 2013-14 campaign to set the stage for his latest success, which came at age 29.



Ovechkin has never won the Stanley Cup with Washington or a Winter Olympic gold medal with Russia, but has won four NHL goal scoring titles and is on pace to capture his fifth this year, what would be his third goals crown in a row.



The nearest rivals to Ovechkin this season, Rick Nash of the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos, each have 40 goals with the campaign set to close next week.



Bruins 3, Panthers 2: The Boston Bruins continued their late run at the NHL playoffs and effectively ended the Florida Panthers’ chances by rallying for a dramatic 3-2 victory.



Left winger Milan Lucic set up the tying goal 9:47 into the third period and then beat Roberto Luongo with the winner with 1:09 left.



Boston (39-25-13) came into the game in the eighth and final Eastern Conference playoff spot and they increased their lead over the 10th-place Panthers to six points and closed within two points of Detroit, who hold third in the Atlantic Division.



The ninth-place Ottawa Senators beat Detroit in a shootout to remain three points back.



Senators 2, Red Wings 1 (SO): Left winger Mark Stone and centers Mika Zibanejad and Kyle Turris scored in a shootout to give the Ottawa Senators a 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings.



Ottawa left winger Clarke MacArthur scored the game-tying goal with 4:02 left in regulation.



Right winger Gustav Nyquist scored a second-period goal for Detroit.



The Senators (38-26-12) stayed within three points of the Bruins in the race for the second wild-card berth into the Eastern Conference playoffs.



Boston pulled within two points of the third-place Red Wings (40-23-13) in the Atlantic Division.



Canucks 5, Predators 4 (SO): Goalie Eddie Lack recorded 34 saves and stopped both attempts in the shootout, while center Nick Bonino and right winger Radim Vrbata scored as Vancouver recorded a 5-4 win over the Nashville Predators.



The Canucks (45-27-5) moved four points ahead of the Calgary Flames for second place in the Pacific Division.



The Predators (47-22-9) lost their second consecutive game but moved four points ahead of the St. Louis Blues for first place in the Central Division.



Nashville tied it up with a fluke power-play goal at 14:57 of the third period when Bonino’s clearance hit off the leg of Predators center Mike Fisher and bounced past Lack (16-11-4) for Fisher’s 19th goal of the season.



Other results: Rangers 3, Jets 2; Maple Leafs 3, Lightning 1; Blue Jackets 3, Devils 2 (OT). — Agencies