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Bruins crush 'Canes behind Chara's hat trick

Jan 17, 2011 - 10:58 PM Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Zdeno Chara recorded his first career hat trick and Tim Thomas stopped 31 shots as Boston steamrolled Carolina, 7-0, in the front end of a home-and-home series at TD Garden.

"It's always nice to say I've done it, that I finally had a hat trick," said Chara, a former New York Islanders draft pick who didn't become an offensive threat until his days in Ottawa. He reached double digits in goals with the burst, for the seventh time in his 13-year career.

Patrice Bergeron picked up a goal and one assist for the Bruins, who have won four of their last five games and recorded a sizeable shutout victory for the second time in less than a week.

Gregory Campbell, Mark Stuart and Michael Ryder also lit the lamp for Boston, which hung a 6-0 loss on Ottawa last Tuesday at home thanks to Bergeron's first career three-goal effort.

Thomas recorded his NHL-leading seventh whitewash, moving one ahead of Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers.

Cam Ward started but was yanked after yielding two goals on five shots in 11- plus minutes. Justin Peters was shelled for five scores the rest of the way for the Hurricanes, who have dropped two of three but get a shot at redemption at home against Boston on Tuesday.

"They got on a roll, from the start they felt good about themselves and away they went," Carolina head coach Paul Maurice admitted. "It's important for our team to answer back and show some character."

The Bruins took a 1-0 lead when Stuart's left-point blast sailed through traffic and settled inside the left post at 7:56 of the opening period, then had their second goal just over a minute later wiped out due to a penalty on Chara for slashing.

Carolina failed to convert on that chance, and Chara did put the home team up by two at 11:28 with a wrister from the left wing off a 2-on-1 break. Ward was then pulled for Peters, but Carolina's bad luck continued.

Chara struck again on a two-man advantage with 4:02 left in the first when he ripped a one-timer under the crossbar.

It was 4-0 with 4:09 to play in the second period when Campbell tipped in a neat Shawn Thornton saucer pass while falling backwards over Peters in the crease. Only 13 seconds later Bergeron chipped a low wrister home off a turnover.

Ryder extended the lead to 6-0 before 2 1/2 minutes elapsed in the third period after deflecting a Dennis Seidenberg drive and Chara finished off his trifecta with a booming slap shot on a power play inside of six minutes remaining.

"He got two early and it was nice that he got the third, but nobody wanted to say anything," Thomas said. "It was like having a shutout."

Game Notes

Chara joined Glen Wesley, Ray Bourque and Bobby Orr as Bruins defensemen who notched a three-goal game...For Boston, it was the largest shutout win over the Whalers/Hurricanes franchise since an 8-0 decision on November 27, 1982 at Boston Garden...Prior to the game, the Hurricanes activated forward Jiri Tlusty from injured reserve...David Krejci and Adam McQuaid added two assists each for the Bruins...Despite the early hook, Ward played in his 310th career game with the Hurricanes, surpassing Arturs Irbe for the most by a goaltender in franchise history.