Boston beats Carolina in opener, 4-1

Marc Savard scored twice and Tim Thomas stopped 26 shots to lead the Boston Bruins past the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-1, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Michael Ryder scored for the fourth game in a row, and David Krejci also scored for the top-seeded Bruins, who swept the Hurricanes during the regular season and Friday night made it five straight -- by a total score of 22-7.

Cam Ward made 20 saves, and Jussi Jokinen scored the lone goal for Carolina.

Game 2 is Sunday in Boston.

Thomas won his 11th consecutive game, including four straight in the first round against rival Montreal, which was Boston’s first playoff series victory since beating the Hurricanes in 1999.

Boston scored on the first shot of the game, when Ryder dug the puck out from behind the net and passed it to the point for Aaron Ward. The defenseman’s wrist shot was tipped in by David Krejci only 94 seconds in to make it 1-0.

Carolina tied it with 1:10 left in the first when Jokinen put a slap shot past Thomas a split-second before the goalie was flattened by Ryan Bayda. The goal counted, and Bayda went off for interference.

But that was the only time Thomas was off his game.

The Hurricanes lost the opener of their first-round series by the same score.