BOSTON — The Bruins beat the Canes four straight times in the regular season and then again in the playoff opener.

Most of the five Boston victories were similar to a degree: the Bruins turned Canes turnovers into goals, their depth was a factor, the Canes' Eric Staal didn't have a point and Carolina couldn't score more than two goals in a game.

After all that, a couple of questions need to be raised: in addition to their size, strength and skills, do the Bruins have a mental edge on the Canes? Is there a mental barrier the Canes need to break through?

"I don't think so," Canes coach Paul Maurice said today after the morning skate. "We've lost five games in a row — that's a fact. We've got to get through it, there's no question about it. We've got to play a better game against this team.

BOSTON — The Bruins' Aaron Ward wouldn't mind a repeat tonight of Game 1 of the playoff series against the Canes.

Ward was credited — a day later — with his first playoff goal since scoring for the Hurricanes in Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup finals against Edmonton. The Bruins won the opener 4-1. And Ward and his defensive partner, Zdeno Chara, shut down Eric Staal's line.

And, after the game, Ward had few private words with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., who gave Ward a big handshake in parting and said, "It was a real pleasure to meet you."

"Small talk, just small talk," a smiling Ward said about his talk with Kerry. "I was just talking about how proud I was to now have a blue state in North Carolina."

BOSTON — It's only one game.

A day after the Canes' 4-1 playoff loss to the Boston Bruins in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals, that seemed to be the mantra of the players, coaches and management.

"We know the game we need to play to be successful and we didn't get to that in Game 1," center Eric Staal said today. "But it's a seven-game series and we get to rebound. Hopefully we can split it here in Boston and take it back home."

BOSTON — Deja vu, perhaps?

The Canes play another playoff opener and lose 4-1. At game's end, there are plenty of explanations, most of them centering on their own poor play.

Against the New Jersey Devils, the Canes said they were flat in the 4-1 loss in the opener. Against the Boston Bruins, in a 4-1 loss Friday night, it was turnovers and mistakes.

Just before Canes coach Paul Maurice settled behind the mike for his postgame news conference, a technician was doing the usual sound test — "One, two, three four."

To which Maurice said wryly, "Were you counting our turnovers?"

Staff photo by Chris Seward

• Photo gallery: Bruins 4, Canes 1

• First Look: See 135 raw images from the game

 BOSTON — Five games into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Boston Bruins are still waiting for a challenge.

With two goals from Marc Savard — at the same time in both the second and third periods — the Bruins easily dispatched the upstart Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference semifinals 4-1 on Friday.

BOSTON — Hit or be hit. No one on the Canes believes in that adage more than Tuomo Ruutu.

If the second-round playoff series against the Bruins is going to be ultra-physical, the forward is fine with that. If they want to skate, that's fine, too.

"They're a really physical team," Ruutu said today. "For sure, it's going to be physical.

"I think there's some physicality to our team as well, but most of all we have some quickness. I think we can use that to our advantage."

Staff photo by Chris Seward

BOSTON — The last time the Hurricanes and Bruins were matched up in a playoff series, Sergei Samsonov was doing all he could to beat the Canes.

That was 1999, when Samsonov was in his second year with the Bruins. Boston won that series in six games, including a 4-3 win in Game 5 in Greenboro decided on Anson Carter's goal in the second overtime.

"It's been a while ago now, but I do remember a little bit about that series," Samsonov said today. "I do remember the team wasn't in Raleigh then and we played in Greensboro, and that Anson Carter scored that big goal. ..."

Staff photo by Chris Seward

BOSTON — Everyone remembers how the Canes began the New Jersey Devils playoff series — undeniably, inexplicably flat.

Could there be a repeat tonight in Game 1 against the Bruins, especially coming off a draining, emotional first-round series? Canes coach Paul Maurice likes to think it won't happen again, but there are some concerns.

"I think emotionally once you get out of that first round, you realize there are only seven teams left and there's an excitement and I think a lot of the fear falls away," Maurice said today. "... The real question is which way do they need to go? Are they that high or are they too relaxed?"

While the Boston Bruins swept Carolina in four games this season, Canes defenseman Joe Corvo said that's deceptive.

"I thought when we played against them, even though they beat us, we matched up well against them," Corvo said today before the team flight to Boston for the second-round playoff series. "I know the score of that last game is pretty deceiving. It was close all game."