BOSTON (Ticker) -- The Carolina Hurricanes played like they were determined to snap a 16-game winless streak. The Boston Bruins played like they were exhausted.
Kevin Weekes recorded his 14th career shutout and rookie Eric Staal scored his first career goal and added an assist to lead the Hurricanes to a 2-0 victory over the Bruins.
It was the first victory for Carolina since March 12 at Buffalo. Since then, the Hurricanes closed the 2002-03 season with an 0-9-2 record and started this season 0-2-3.
"It's been difficult to keep the faith," said Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice. "We skated pretty well tonight and Weekes played a good game, but that's what we expect."
"For me, personally, I wasn't thinking about it," Weekes said of his team's winless streak. "The fans and media worry about the streaks more than the players do because it gives them something to talk about."
The Bruins wrapped up a four-game West Coast swing and six-game road trip with a 4-1 win Tuesday at Colorado. But they didn't appear to have any energy left for their first home game in over two weeks and heard plenty of boos for their lackluster performance.
"I'm disappointed in our energy level," said Bruins coach Mike Sullivan. "We had no energy or emotion and we played against a hungry team. It's hard to be effective in this league if you don't bring the energy you have to have."
Bruins center Joe Thornton, who had three assists in the win at Colorado, admitted his team was not up for this game.
"The first game back was a bit of a letdown," Thornton said.
The Hurricanes outshot Boston, 32-18, and Staal, the second overall pick in the 2003 draft, scored the only goal they needed 1:57 into the game. Streaking down the left side on a 2-on-1, Staal took a pass from Jeff O'Neill at the left faceoff circle and one-timed a shot past goaltender Andrew Raycroft, who expected O'Neill to shoot and left half the net open for Staal.
"I just fired it as hard as I could. I had a whole net to shoot at, almost empty," Staal said. "It was exciting to score that first goal and get our first win."
"It's a big moment to score your first goal," O'Neill said. "I was happy to contribute. He (Staal) has been due."
The 18-year-old Staal plays left wing on a line with Josef Vasicek at center and O'Neill at right wing.
"It looks like that line has a future," Maurice said. "They played well tonight."
O'Neill took a drop pass from Vasicek and scored with 7:13 left in the third period, beating Raycroft to the far side with a screened wrist shot from the top of the right circle.
After facing just three harmless shots in the first period, Weekes stopped 10 in the second. His best was a glove save on a shot from the slot by Mike Knuble in the first minute of the period.
The Bruins managed just five shots in the third period. Weekes preserved the shutout with a pad save on a shot from the slot by Sergei Samsonov with 35 seconds left.
"The amount of shots doesn't matter as much as the job you do," Weekes said. "Any shot can beat you. The guys cleared out the puck for me and I got a clear look at most shots."
Raycroft made 30 saves and has allowed just six goals in four starts.
"They got that quick one and sat back," Raycroft said. "It's a little frustrating. It's tough when you give up the first goal and you're battling from behind all the time."
The biggest ovation of the night came during the second period intermission, when the scoreboard showed the Florida Marlins were ahead of the New York Yankees in Game Five of the World Series.
