Disputed Goal Gives 'Canes Win

There was disagreement over how the winning goal was scored. There was none about what it meant for the Carolina Hurricanes.

Their 3-2 win Monday night gave them a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals against the Boston Bruins, but no one was getting carried away.

"We probably take as much confidence out of this one as Boston took out of the first one," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. The Bruins won that 2-0, then lost the next two games.

"It's not bad yet," Boston's Ray Bourque said. "If we lose the next one, it's going to be bad."

The Bruins lost Monday night on a goal at 2:54 of the third period credited to Andrei Kovalenko that was confirmed when video replay showed the puck entered the crease before Kovalenko's skate got there.

Kovalenko said the puck never touched him, and Bruins goalie Pat Burns said it went off goalie Byron Dafoe's glove. But Dafoe said he thought it hit Kovalenko's skate. The official scorer seemed to agree if the puck didn't hit Kovalenko, the goal should have been given to Robert Kron, who passed the puck from behind the goal line.

"In this series you can't be fancy," Kron said. "You just have to throw the puck at the net and take your chances."

Said Burns: "The puck was in the crease before he (Kovalenko) went in. It bounced off Byron's glove hand and went in the net and that's a break I wish we could get, but you have to make your breaks."

The Bruins split the first two games in Carolina, but a return home wasn't enough to give them the series lead against a tough forechecking team that limited their opportunities. In last year's playoffs, they were 0-3 at home in losing the first round to Washington in six games.

"We can't just go out and play a god game (Wednesday). We have to play an outstanding game," Dafoe said. "I don't think we have to change a lot. We have to be intense and go hard for 60 minutes."

The Bruins have lost their last four playoff series, while the Hurricanes are in the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons, two in Carolina after moving from Hartford.

"Both teams are evenly matched," Carolina's Ray Sheppard said. "We knew when we left home we needed to come here and get one. It was nice to get the first one."

Goals by Carolina's Gary Roberts and Sheppard, who scored to win Game 2 in overtime, and Boston's Sergei Samsonov and Anson Carter left the game tied after two periods.

Dafoe, who led the NHL with 10 regular-season shutouts and added one in the playoff opener, lost his bid for another just 1:05 into the game.

That's when Roberts scored his first goal of the playoffs. Jeff O'Neill put the puck in front of the net to the left of Dafoe, who sprawled after it. Roberts then gained control and scored from in close on the first shot of the game.

It was the earliest playoff goal in franchise history. The previous record was Dean Evason's goal 1:06 into a 5-4 loss to Quebec on April 16, 1987.

The Bruins tied the game at 9:48 of the first period with excellent teamwork. Landon Wilson bumped Dave Karpa off the puck in the right corner and passed back along the right boards to Joe Thornton. He quickly relayed the puck across the slot, where Samsonov connected from 15 feet against goalie Arturs Irbe.

Boston went ahead with its first goal on nine power plays in the series when Carter scored at 13:07 of the second period on a deflection of Jason Allison's blast from the right point.

But the lead lasted barely two minutes. Carolina scored on a power play after the Bruins, who led the NHL in penalty killing, were penalized for having too many men on the ice. Sheppard got his third goal of the series on a pass by Keith Primeau across the slot from right to left. Dafoe dived in Sheppard's direction, but the puck went under the goalie's stick.

The Hurricanes played their second straight game without Ron Francis, who sprained his ankle in Game 1 after leading the team in scoring in the second half of the season. Boston lost defenseman Dave Ellett with a neck injury in the first period.

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