By David Droschak
Associated Press
Saturday, April 24, 1999; 11:25 p.m. EDT

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Ray Sheppard scored off a wild scramble with 2:55 left in overtime Saturday night as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Boston Bruins, 3-2, to tie their Eastern Conference series 1-1.

Defenseman Steve Chiasson held the puck in at the blue line along the boards to set up the game-winning goal, moving to the center of the ice for a slap shot that Byron Dafoe stopped.

But Dafoe gave up the rebound in a crowd. Martin Gelinas banged the first chance off the left post before it came right to Sheppard, who got his second goal of the game for the Carolina win.

The Hurricanes overcame the loss of Ron Francis, who missed the game with a sprained ankle suffered in the series opener. Carolina also had to play with only four defensemen from the second period on after losing Marek Malik to a thigh bruise and Nolan Pratt to a groin strain.

The score was tied 1-1 heading into the third period, and similar to Game 1, Boston appeared to have control of the defensive struggle when Steve Heinze scored with 11:28 left.

Carolina goaltender Arturs Irbe, who stopped the original spot by Anson Carter in the slot, was unable to control the trickling puck behind him in the crease. A second or two after Carter's shot, Heinze tapped it in for a 2-1 lead.

But Carolina rallied down the stretch, a centering pass from the corner by Bates Battaglia ricochetting off the skate of Robert Kron and through the legs of Dafoe with 5:32 left to send the game into overtime tied at 2.

Kron, subbing for the injured Francis, had his back turned toward Battaglia when the puck hit off his skate.

After a scoreless first period, a great individual effort by Landon Wilson set up Sergei Samsonov's rebound goal early in the second period.

Dafoe, who led the NHL with 10 regular-season shutouts, blanked the Hurricanes 2-0 in Game 1. But he saw his postseason shutout streak snapped at 88 1/2 minutes when Sheppard tied the score 1-1, beating the Boston goalie high on the glove side from the slot.

Paul Coffey, who didn't play in the first game because of a hamstring injury, helped on the goal for his 137th playoff assist – tops all-time in the postseason among defensemen.