Boyle pounced on a loose puck to score the tying goal in the third period and Richards scored 2:37 into overtime to give the Rangers a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning last night in New York.

“It’s like other good teams that I’ve been on. There’s never a panic in the locker room,’’ Richards said. ‘We’ve been through it, and we’ve got a game plan. We’ve executed many times and we’re very confident.’’

Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos scored his NHL-best 36th of the season near the end of a first period that had mostly favored the Rangers. Tampa Bay was outshot, 10-4, in the first and 31-17 for the game.

The Lightning were coming off a loss at home to Los Angeles, but before that had points in seven straight games, including five wins.

“We came in against the No. 1 team in the conference and we made it hard for them again,’’ Tampa Bay coach Guy Boucher said. “We’ve only lost one regulation game in nine games, so we are playing well. We’re making it hard. We’re fighting.’’

Stars 4, Blue Jackets 2 - Jamie Benn scored two goals and Kari Lehtonen had 26 saves to make an early lead stand up and Dallas topped host Columbus.

Alex Goligoski and Stephane Robidas each had a goal and an assist, and Mike Ribeiro added two assists for the Stars, who began the night 12th in the Western Conference but just 2 points behind eighth-place Minnesota.

Dallas led, 3-0, barely 21 minutes in and then hung on behind Lehtonen to win its fourth in the last six games.

Blues 4, Devils 3 - T.J. Oshie scored the only goal in the shootout and relief goalie Brian Elliott was perfect as visiting St. Louis ended New Jersey’s five-game winning streak.

Oshie, the first shooter for the Blues, fooled Devils goalie Johan Hedberg with an off-speed shot that trickled through his pads.

Elliott, who came on to replace Jaroslav Halak in the second period, stopped Ilya Kovalchuk, Patrik Elias, and Zach Parise. Elliott also stopped all 15 shots in regulation and overtime.

Canadiens 4, Islanders 2 - Max Pacioretty had three goals, Scott Gomez netted his first in more than a year, and visiting Montreal won its third straight by toppling New York.

Pacioretty scored in all three periods, and the Canadiens (22-24-9) moved 1 point ahead of the Islanders (22-23-8) in the tightly packed non-playoff section of the Eastern Conference.

Flyers 4, Maple Leafs 3 - Claude Giroux and Brayden Schenn scored 1:14 apart in the second period to help host Philadelphia snap a three-game losing streak by holding back Toronto.

Tyler Bozak scored two goals and Joffrey Lupul had one for the resurgent Leafs, who were 6-2-1 in their previous nine games.

Jets 3, Capitals 2 - Winnipeg overcame a two-goal deficit in the final 2:15 of regulation, then prevailed in a shootout over host Washington.

Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien awoke a pedestrian Jets attack with power-play goals to force the game into overtime. Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little scored in the shootout, and Ondrej Pavelec stopped shots by Alexander Semin and Mathieu Perreault.

Panthers 3, Kings 1 - Sean Bergenheim and Mike Santorelli scored in the second period to help host Florida down Los Angeles. Scott Clemmensen stopped 22 shots.

Senators 4, Predators 3 - Chris Phillips scored his first two goals of the season in his 1,000th NHL game, Jason Spezza also scored twice, and host Ottawa ended a seven-game losing streak.

Coyotes 2, Flames 1 - Shane Doan scored a power-play goal at 3:05 of overtime and host Phoenix extended its winning streak to a season-high four games and moved into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Canucks 5, Wild 2 - Henrik and Daniel Sedin both scored against Minnesota for the first time in their careers to lead visiting Vancouver to victory.