Boston, MA (My Sportsbook) - Marc Savard lit the lamp on two occasions, as a rested Boston team jumped all over the Carolina Hurricanes en route to a 4-1 win in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at TD Banknorth Garden.

The Bruins had been waiting eight days since sweeping Montreal out of the opening round to resume their quest for the most distinguished trophy in sports.

Carolina, meanwhile, was embroiled in a thrilling seven-game tussle with New Jersey in the first round. The Hurricanes rallied from a 3-2 series deficit and tallied twice in the final 80 seconds of Game 7 to stun the Devils.

Michael Ryder registered a goal and an assist, and David Krejci also scored for the top-seeded Bruins, who are in the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

Phil Kessel collected two helpers while Tim Thomas, a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender, turned aside 26 of the 27 shots he faced.

Jussi Jokinen had the lone goal for sixth-seeded Carolina, which is three years removed from the jubilation of winning the Stanley Cup.

Cam Ward, who was rewarded for his heroics between the pipes in 2006 with the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, stopped 20-of-24 shots. He was sensational in the first round against New Jersey, allowing 15 goals in the seven-game conquest of the Atlantic Division champions.

Game 2 of this best-of-seven set is scheduled for Sunday in Boston.

Despite the long layoff, the Bruins exhibited no rust and picked up where they left off, beating Ward 1:34 after the game's opening faceoff.

Ryder skated with the puck behind the net, came around the right post and handed the puck off to former Hurricane Aaron Ward. Ward, who won the Cup with Carolina, fired a wrister from the point through traffic that was deflected home by Krejci.

Carolina tied the contest when Jokinen took a drop pass from Ryan Bayda and slipped a shot from the left circle underneath the right pad of Thomas with 1:10 remaining in the first period. After scoring just once in 25 games with the Hurricanes during the regular season, Jokinen has found the net four times in the postseason.

Savard restored the lead for Boston, backhanding the rebound of a Kessel shot past a sprawled netminder 7:21 into the middle stanza. Ryder then stole an errant pass in the neutral zone and launched a sizzling wrister labeled for the top right corner with 7:19 to play in the second period.

Boston added an insurance marker in the third period on Savard's second tally of the game.

Game Notes

Kessel and Ryder both had recorded a point in all five playoff games for Boston...Earlier Friday, Bruins head coach Claude Julien was named one of the three finalists for the Jack Adams Trophy, which is awarded annually to the top bench boss in the NHL...Boston dominated the regular season series against the Canes this year, as it took all four meetings and outscored Carolina by an 18-6 margin in the process...This series marks the fourth all- time playoff matchup between Boston and the Hartford/Carolina franchise, with the Bruins winning the previous three encounters. These two clubs last met in the postseason in the 1999 conference quarterfinals.