Ward’s shutout leads Hurricanes to a split

Cam Ward’s second playoff shutout in four games and a rare misplay by Zdeno Chara gave the Carolina Hurricanes a split of their first two games against the Boston Bruins on Sunday night.

Ward turned aside 36 shots, and Chara’s bad pass led to Matt Cullen’s short-handed goal as the Hurricanes won, 3-0, and headed home for Games 3 and 4 Wednesday and Friday nights.

The Bruins were the last unbeaten team in the playoffs after Detroit lost to the Ducks on Sunday. Boston goalie Tim Thomas’ winning streak ended at 11 games, including the last six of the regular season.

Joe Corvo also scored, and Eric Staal added an empty-net goal with 28 seconds left.

Ward, the most valuable player of the 2006 playoffs won by Carolina, preserved his shutout with 6:37 left when Michael Ryder pounced on a loose puck in front of the net. Ward flashed his left pad out to stop the shot, then made a save after Dennis Wideman got the rebound.

Ward’s first playoff shutout of the year came in a 4-0 win in Game 6 against New Jersey, a series Carolina won by scoring two goals in the last 80 seconds of Game 7.

Sunday’s win was Carolina’s first of the season against Boston, which was 4-0 in the regular season, then won Friday night’s opener, 4-1. The Bruins are 3-0 in playoff series against the Hurricanes, including a 1999 win that was their last series victory before this year.