Desperate Bruins pin loss on Penguins

As for Ward, the 35-year-old backliner stayed over at a nearby hospital, under observation following a nasty hit to the throat sustained early in the second period. Clocked by ex-Bruin Sergei Gonchar, who appeared to drive his gloved right hand into the defenseman's throat as he was about to be hit into the boards, Ward dropped to the ice on all fours and writhed in pain for a minute or two before being helped off the ice.

"He is going to stay over for precautionary reasons," coach Claude Julien said. "I'm not sure what he has, to be honest, but he was spitting up some blood. They want to make sure he's OK." Gonchar told the Associated Press he didn't realize Ward was hurt.

"I just remember me joining the rush and shooting the puck and he was coming to me and I [was trying to] protect myself and trying to go back into my position, and that's why I didn't even see exactly what happened," Gonchar said.

Ward's injury reflected, in part, the kind of added grit the Bruins applied after losing four of their previous five games, including a passionless 3-2 loss to the Hurricanes the night before on Causeway Street. Their two goals, first by Petteri Nokelainen and then by Vladimir Sobotka (first of his career), were the products of strong, smart forechecking, an element absent in recent outings.

The Bruins also did an exceptional job of penalty killing, extinguishing all but one of eight man-advantage chances the Penguins had over 60 minutes. On a night when the referees failed to call so much as a roughing minor on Gonchar's blatant chop to Ward's throat, Marc Joannette and Fred L'Ecuyer for the most part spent their workshifts constantly whistling picayune calls against the Bruins - especially whenever anyone so much as cast a dirty look the way of Penguins superstar Evgeni Malkin.

"I am certainly not going to blame my team for that," said Julien, responding to a question about the eight penalties his club had to kill. "We have the luxury of replays . . . I mean, that hit on Malkin, can you get any cleaner?"