NHL: Boston 4, Carolina 0

BOSTON, May 10 (UPI) -- Tim Thomas kept the Boston Bruins' Stanley Cup hopes alive Sunday by stopping 19 shots in a 4-0 shutout of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Phil Kessel scored a pair of goals for the Bruins who will seek to avoid elimination once again when they travel to Carolina Tuesday for Game 6, down 3-2.

Cam Ward was peppered with 44 shots on goal while his teammates were called for 17 penalties, only two fewer than the number of shots they mustered against Thomas. Boston went 1-for-9 on the power play.

Boston had control of the game the entire way after being outscored 10-3 in their losses in Games 2, 3 and 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Bruins outshot Carolina 16-7 in the first period and took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission on a slapshot by Zdeno Chara that Mark Recchi tipped in for a goal with 5:12 to play in the period, and Kessel's first goal with 1:24 to go.

Kessel scored at 4:40 of the second period on a one-timer from the slot off a pass from Marc Savard to make it 3-0. Savard and Chara each had two assists in the game.

Milan Lucic wrapped up the scoring with a goal for the Bruins with 7:39 to play.