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  Saturday, Oct. 2 7:00pm ET
'Canes give B's a little payback
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

BOSTON (AP) -- The Carolina Hurricanes were able to win without their missing star.

Boston wasn't so lucky.

Bates Battalia
Bates Battaglia and the hungry Hurricanes were willing to pay the price to win in FleetCenter Saturday.
Sami Kapanen and Kent Manderville beat Boston backup goalie Robbie Tallas 1:20 apart in the second period Saturday night as Carolina sent the Bruins to a rare opening night loss, 3-1.

The win came despite the absence of Keith Primeau, Carolina's top scorer last year, who is holding out for a better contract. Boston was also missing a key player because of a contract holdout, goalie Byron Dafoe.

"When you have premier, key guys out, you have to tighten things up," Carolina coach Paul Maurice said. "We have to play better defense because we are not going to score as many goals. They have to play better defense because Dafoe is not in net."

Boston was 9-0-3 in its previous 12 openers, the longest unbeaten streak in the NHL. But the Bruins took the ice this time without Dafoe, a Vezina Trophy finalist from last year who is holding out while haggling over a new contract.

"Everybody's kind of waiting to see what happens. But we've got to move on," Tallas said. "I can't worry about Byron's situation. I've got to worry about mine."

Arturs Irbe stopped 22 shots for Carolina, which was eliminated by Boston in the first round of last year's playoffs. Tallas stopped 17 shots in his first attempt at replacing Dafoe, who is trying to pry $4 million per year out of the Bruins; the team is offering $3 million annually.

"He didn't do nothing wrong. He made the proper saves," Bruins coach Pat Burns said of Tallas' performance. "He was a little bit fidgety at the beginning, but that's to be expected."

Ray Bourque gave Boston a 1-0 lead when he scored his 386th career goal 1:42 into the second period, moving him into the lead on the NHL's career scoring list for defensemen. Carolina's Paul Coffey, who was not in the lineup on Saturday night, fell into second place with 385.

Dave Andreychuk set up the play by getting the puck to Jason Allison to the left of the goal, then Andreychuk headed for the net, taking two defenders with him and screening Irbe.

Even before the opening faceoff, the crowd began chanting "We Want Dafoe!" After Kapenen scored 4:30 into the second period to make it 1-1, fans began a derogatory chant about Bruins general manager Harry Sinden.

When Manderville scored to make it 2-1 just 80 seconds later, the crowd simply booed. Manderville also had an assist on Jeff Daniels' goal that made it 3-1 with 7:30 left to play.

"We need to get efforts from everybody," Hurricanes captain Ron Francis said. "You're not going to replace Keith Primeau with one individual."

Meanwhile, The Boston Globe reported Saturday that the Bruins would offer Dafoe, who was the league's No. 3 goalie last season with a 1.99 goals-against average, another chance at arbitration. The deadline for Dafoe to seek arbitration has long passed, but if both sides wanted -- and the league allowed it -- they could use a mediator to settle the holdout.

 


ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard

Carolina Clubhouse

Boston Clubhouse


Offer rejected, Hurricanes strip Primeau of captain title

Goalie Dafoe asks Bruins to trade him

Roundup: Tanabe shifts gears, signs with Carolina


RECAPS
New Jersey 4
Atlanta 1

Carolina 3
Boston 1

Toronto 4
Montreal 1

Ottawa 3
Philadelphia 0

Detroit 2
Buffalo 0

Florida 4
Washington 3

Tampa Bay 4
NY Islanders 2

Dallas 2
Anaheim 0

Los Angeles 2
Nashville 0

Phoenix 2
St. Louis 1

Vancouver 2
NY Rangers 1

San Jose 5
Calgary 3

AUDIO/VIDEO
video
 Kent Manderville scores for Carolina.
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