BOSTON – Cam Ward stopped 19 shots for his third shutout of the season and Eric Staal scored the only goal to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

The win was just the third in eight games for Carolina, which played its second straight 1-0 game after losing in St. Louis on Saturday. It was the Hurricanes’ first 1-0 victory of the season.

Tim Thomas made 27 saves for Boston. It was the Bruins’ first home shutout since Colorado beat them 2-0 last March.

Boston, which had its three-game winning streak snapped, closes a five-game homestand against Montreal on Thursday.

Staal’s goal came with 1:40 left in the second period. He collected the puck near the back boards, circled out front and fired a wrister between Thomas’ pads from the bottom of the right circle.

The Bruins pulled Thomas with 64 seconds left, and they had a power play for the final 17.3 seconds after Niclas Wallin was whistled for tripping.

A splendid save by Thomas kept the game scoreless in the opening period. Winger Eric Cole fired a shot from the right circle that Staal, positioned at the top of the crease, redirected on net, but Thomas flashed his right pad and reached back with his stick to slide the puck out just before it crossed the goal line with a little under four minutes left.

Carolina just missed on another chance early in the second when center Chad LaRose hit the crossbar with a shot from the right circle after he broke in alone.

The Hurricanes entered the game with the NHL’s third-most goals allowed, but it appeared like they were concentrating on team defense a bit more as they limited the Bruins to 14 total shots on goal in the first two periods.

Notes: Carolina claimed RW Sergei Samsonov on re-entry waivers from Chicago and assigned Brandon Nolan to their AHL affiliate earlier Tuesday. Samsonov, originally drafted by the Bruins, received a nice hand when he was announced in the starting lineup. … Boston D Zdeno Chara was elected by fan balloting to the Eastern Conference’s All-Star team. It will be his third appearance, first as a starter. … Boston D Aaron Ward, sidelined with a broken left foot, said he feels like he’ll be ready for Thursday’s game against Montreal. … Bruins D Andrew Alberts missed his 10th straight game with post-concussion syndrome. … Hurricanes D Glen Wesley, who has played the second-most games by an active defenseman at 1,423, was a late scratch due to an illness, and LW Ray Whitney was also scratched because he was sick.

AP-ES-01-08-08 2129EST