Matchup: Boston Bruins at Montreal Canadiens, 7 p.m. (NESN; 98.5 FM)

Records: Boston 30-24-12, 72 points; Montreal 34-29-6, 74 points

Past History: After going 5-0-1 against Montreal last season and sweeping the Habs in the playoffs last spring, the Bruins have had the tables turned this year with Montreal winning the four of the first five meetings. Montreal won 2-1 in a shootout in Boston on Nov. 5, 5-1 in a blowout in Montreal on Dec. 4 and 3-2 in a shootout Feb. 4 in Boston. The Bruins finally ended that streak with a 3-0 win at Montreal on Feb. 7, but the Habs took a 4-1 win at the Garden with four third-period goals on March 2. All-time, the Bruins trail their rivals 263-332-103-6 overall, and 102-200-47-2 in Montreal.

Bruins Connections: Defenseman Hal Gill spent the first eight seasons of his career in Boston, while fellow blueliner Paul Mara was here for less than one season, playing 59 games in 2006-07 before being dealt for Aaron Ward. Forward Glen Metropolit resurrected his career in Boston in 2007-08, and has 15-13-28 totals in 63 games this year in Montreal.

New England Ties: Gill hails from Bolton, Mass. and played at Providence College, while Mara is from Belmont, Mass. Max Pacioretty (New Canaan, Conn.) had 3-11-14 totals in 52 games with the Habs, but was assigned to Hamilton (AHL) on Jan. 24. Brian Gionta played at Boston College and mid-season addition Dominic Moore was a Harvard man before turning pro.

Injury Update: The Canadiens are without leading goal-scorer Michael Cammalleri, who is still out with a knee injury. That’s good news for the Bruins, as Cammalleri scored a natural hat trick against them in December and had the only goal in the shootout on Nov. 5. Marc-Andre Bergeron also remains out with a knee injury, but Mara, who has missed the last 17 games with an upper-body injury, has resumed practicing and could return in this one. The Canadiens will also get agitator Maxim Lapierre back after serving a four-game suspension for a hit from behind on the Sharks’ Scott Nichol. Imagine that, a dirty hit that actually got punished by the league, who would have thought that was possible? The Bruins will be without Marc Savard (concussion), likely for the rest of the season, and Andrew Ference (groin), while Miroslav Satan is questionable with a goin injury.

Fight Card: There were no fights in the first three meetings, which is unusual in this rivalry, as last year’s series produced six fights, plus two more in the playoffs. Even more unusual was the lone fight in the fourth game before the break, as Blake Wheeler dropped the gloves for the first time in his pro career against Ryan O’Byrne, albeit in a brief and uneventful scrap. The clubs resumed their peaceful ways on March 2. The Habs have just 30 fighting majors and sent home enforcer Georges Laraque for the season. That leaves O’Byrne (6 fights) and Travis Moen (5 fights) as their most physical players. The Bruins have 40 fighting majors, led by Shawn Thornton’s 17.

Matchup to Watch: Patrice Bergeron vs. Scott Gomez. Bergeron grew up in Quebec, but as a Nordiques fan, so his hatred of the Habs was in place long before he came to Boston. He’s enjoyed sticking it to Montreal whenever possible, with 9-13-22 totals in 31 career games. Gomez hails from Alaska, but is winning over Montreal fans with 50 points in 65 games this year, and 29 points in 38 games against the Bruins won’t hurt that cause. Both players are currently centering red-hot lines, with the combo of Gomez, Benoit Pouliot and Brian Gionta combining for 9-11-20 totals in the six games since the Olympic break, led by Gomez’s eight points. Bergeron has teamed with Marco Sturm and Mark Recchi to put up 6-7-13 totals in the last two games, with Bergeron accounting for five of those points.

Three Keys for the B’s:

1. Sturm set for a streak – Marco Sturm is one of the streakiest scorers in the NHL. That’s great when he’s on one of his scoring binges. Not so good when he’s colder than the ice he’s skating on. The good news for the Bruins is that he’s heating up again, and at a time when the Bruins need his scoring more than ever with Savard out. Sturm has 2-3-5 totals in his last three games and three goals in his last two games against Montreal. Boston needs him to add to those numbers tonight.

2. Special showdown – The matchup between the Canadiens’ second-ranked power play (50-214, 23.4 percent) and Boston’s top-ranked penalty kill (32-228, 86.0 percent) could determine the outcome in this one. The Habs are lethal with the man-advantage, but have also had the fewest power-play opportunities in the NHL this year, while surrendering the fourth-most chances to opponents. The Bruins have the second fewest power-play chances and haven’t done much with them (40-215, 18.6 percent).

3. Derail Metro – Former Bruin Metropolit has a career-high 15 goals this year, and much of that has come at the expense of his old club. Metropolit has 4-2-6 totals in his five games against the Bruins this season. He’s scored in all four Habs victories, with the only time he’s failed to register a goal coming when Tuukka Rask blanked Montreal in February.

The Lowdown: The Bruins put together a solid effort in Philadelphia on Thursday, snapping a two-game losing streak and regaining a bit of pride after their embarrassing lack of response to the cheap shot on Savard on Sunday and a sloppy showing in an overtime loss to the lowly Leafs on Tuesday. Now they face the Habs for the final time this year looking for a little redemption after losing four of the first five meetings. Montreal limped into the Olympic break having lost three of four, including a 3-0 defeat against Boston. But since NHL play resumed, Montreal has gone 5-1-0 and averaged four goals a game. The Bruins can’t match that, as they average an NHL-worst 2.31 goals a game and have lost their top playmaker in Savard. The Bruins have especially struggled to score against Montreal, particularly when Carey Price been in net. Price hasn’t stopped a lot of offenses this year (13-19-4, 2.82 GAA), but he’s allowed just one goal in each of his three starts against Boston, winning all three while stopping 102 of the 105 shots he’s faced (.971 save percentage). The Bruins can pull even with Montreal and possibly Philadelphia, which hosts Chicago this afternoon, with a win and further solidify their playoff chances, especially since they have three games in hand on the Habs. But before they can worry about winning those extra remaining games, they have to take care of business in this final head-to-head matchup.

Even though the Bruins showed no inclination to stick up for their fallen teammate Marc Savard on Sunday, Matt Cooke apparently wants to make sure he’s ready if things change when the Penguins come to Boston next Thursday.

Cooke engaged in a rare fight tonight against the Devils, taking on Rob Niedermayer off the opening face-off of the third period in a possible tuneup for Thursday’s main event. It wasn’t much of a fight, with Cooke getting a quick takedown after the long squareoff and Niedermayer not really even throwing a punch. But Bruins fans might enjoy the replay of the incident late in the second that precipitated the fight.

Cooke vs. Niedermayer

Cooke went in for a hit, but Niedermayer, who has a long history of concussions himself, obviously knew to keep his head up when the Penguins headhunter was on the ice. Niedermayer missed 26 games with a concussion in 1997-98, another six in 2006 and three playoff games in 2008, but he wasn’t going to get another one from Cooke tonight. He saw him coming, sidestepped the check and drove Cooke face-first into the glass. It’s not nearly close to what Cooke deserves, but it’s a start.

It’s also interesting that Cooke demanded a shot at revenge against Niedermayer, who did the honorable thing and obliged. Will Cooke do the same when the Bruins come calling on Thursday?

His track record saws no. Cooke has consistently ducked legitimate tough guys looking to hold him accountable for his countless cheap shots throughout his career. Even in tonight’s game, Cooke forced the issue with Niedermayer, who hadn’t been in a fight since the 2006-07 season, but later turned down an invitation from a more accomplished scrapper in David Clarkson.

So don’t expect Cooke to do anything but turtle if the likes of Shawn Thornton, Milan Lucic or Zdeno Chara go after him. It might be up to a less frequent fighter to try to take him to task. Perhaps Steve Begin or Mark Stuart could get him to go, though even they are far better fighters than Cooke is usually willing to tangle with.

In 724 career games over 11 seasons, Cooke has just 15 fighting majors despite racking up 836 penalty minutes for his dirty play. His opponents? Ricard Persson, Alex Korolyuk, Ladislav Kohn, Jason Marshall, Ronald Petrovicky, Jamie Langenbrunner, Steve Moore, Trevor Daley, Ryan Malone, David Hale, Jannik Hansen, Ilya Kovalchuk, Ryan Callahan, Chris Drury and Niedermayer. That’s quite a murderers’ row of heavyweights. Hopefully a Bruin or two will be able to add their name to that list on Thursday, but if it’s anyone with a much of a pugilistic track record, it will be a shock.

PROVIDENCE – The Providence Bruins’ path to the playoffs just got a whole lot tougher.

The Baby B’s sit in sixth place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division, but the fifth-place team can make the postseason if it has more points that the fourth-place finisher in the East Division. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton currently sits in fourth in the East and was in Providence tonight. The Penguins entered the evening leading the Baby B’s but just one point, but after rallying from a 3-1 deficit for a 5-3 win, the Penguins now have a three-point edge.

Both teams, however, are still looking up at Bridgeport, which won in shootout tonight and has 71 points, two more than the Penguins and five ahead of Providence, which fell to 31-31-3-1.

“It’s a non-division (game), but not really anymore,” said Pens coach Todd Reirden, whose club is now 33-29-1-2 (69 points). “This was a big game for us. Providence is a well-coached team and they came out hard and definitely put us on our heels to start the game, but we were able to turn the corner. It was a game of high importance to our team. We certainly understood the magnitude of tonight. We’ve been playing playoff hockey for about the last 15 games or so. We know it’s going to be difficult and it’s going to be a battle each night, so we’re happy to get the points.”

Providence struck first when Trent Whitfield banged in the rebound of a Mikko Lehtonen shot just five seconds into a 5-on-3 power play. After the Pens tied it, Jared Ross scored on a blast from the right point and Jordan Knackstedt continued his torrid scoring at 4:25 of the second. Knackstedt redirected an Andy Wozniewski shot at the right point for his sixth goal in the last six games.

But the Penguins answered just 12 seconds later on a goal by tough guy Zach Sill, who had earlier battled Lane MacDermid in a long and entertaining scrap. Brian Strait (Waltham, Mass.) then scored his second of the year in front of his friends and family to tie it 3-3 at 7:07.

“Probably the toughest position to transition into as a young player is playing defense in the American Hockey League,” said Reirden of Strait. “But we’ve been really happy with his progress this year. He’s got a bright future in the organization. I was happy with Brian’s game tonight. Certainly he’s not evaluated on his offense, so whatever he can add in that regard, we’ll gladly take it.”

Tim Wallace put WB/S ahead early in the third, then iced the game with a short-handed tally with 5:24 left.

Providence goes to Adirondack tomorrow.

Final: Boston 5, Philadelphia 1

The Bruins finally put together a solid effort, with a rare offensive outburst fueling an impressive road win over a Philadelphia team that was 7-1-1 in its previous nine games. It was just the second time in 2010 that the Bruins scored five goals in a game, and they did it against a team that had held 11 of its previous 13 opponents to two goals or less. With the win, the Bruins remain in eighth place, but now have a little firmer hold on that final playoff spot with a five-point lead and a game in hand over the Rangers. They still trail Montreal, which beat Edmonton in a shootout tonight, by two points, but have three games in hand on the Habs, and are also now within two points of sixth-place Philadelphia. The Bruins will be hard-pressed to do much damage in the playoffs without Marc Savard, but they’re in good position to at least get into the postseason.

Records: Boston 30-24-12, 72 points; Philadelphia 35-27-4, 74 points

Revisiting the Three Keys for the B’s:

1. Spread the scoring – The Bruins had just one line show up in their first game without Savard Tuesday in Toronto. Tonight, they had two lines going, with the David Krejci-Blake Wheeler-Michael Ryder line scoring twice, while the Patrice Bergeron-Marco Sturm-Mark Recchi struck for three goals for the second straight game. That’s a step in the right direction, thought the third line of Vladimir Sobotka, Milan Lucic and Brad Marchand, who replaced the injured Miroslav Satan, still was a non-factor offensively, though Sobotka and Marchand did supply plenty of energy and some physical play.

2. Power outage – The Bruins did a good job of avoiding penalties in this one. That was a good thing, as the Flyers needed just four seconds to score on their only power play, with Jeff Carter scoring his 10^th goal in the last 10 games after (shocker) Dennis Wideman turned over the puck. The Bruins failed to convert their two chances with the man-advantage.

3. Stick together – The Bruins did a better job of standing up for themselves in this one, especially Mark Stuart, who dropped the gloves twice. Shawn Thornton also stepped in when Daniel Carcillo tried to get Stuart to go a third time and even Matt Hunwick was ready to go with Carcillo late in the third, but the linesmen stepped in.

Key Play of the Game:

The Bruins had blown three one-goal leads against Toronto and another 1-0 lead in this one, so after they again went up 2-1, the breakthrough came when they finally extended the lead to two goals when Bergeron banged in a rebound at the right post at 10:30 of the second. Michael Leighton had made the initial save on Sturm’s tip of a Hunwick point shot, but couldn’t get over to stop Bergeron’s bid. Krejci followed with another goal off a sharp passing play by Wheeler and Ryder to make it 4-1 just 46 seconds later, ending the night for Leighton.

Fight Card:

Maybe he was upset with the league’s decision not to suspend Matt Cooke or maybe he was embarrassed by his own team’s lack of response to Cooke’s cheap shot. Maybe it was a personal beef from the last time he played against the Flyers and ended up with a broken sternum on Dec. 14. Whatever the reason, Stuart certainly wasn’t in a good mood in this one, playing with the nasty edge that makes him the most effective. He dropped the gloves with Carcillo in the first after they jostled behind the Bruins net. Both traded big rights but neither landed anything flush. Stuart followed through with one big right as they went down, and they got back up ready for more, but the linesmen stepped in. Stuart then went with Ian Laperriere in the second after a conversation near the blue line. This one was mostly in-tight grappling, with Stuart getting Laperriere’s jersey up over his head. Thornton dropped the gloves with Carcillo in the third after Carcillo went after Stuart again, but Carcillo wouldn’t drop his gloves. The Flyers agitator was more willing with non-fighter Hunwick after a goal-mouth scramble. They both dropped the gloves but the linemen stepped in quickly. Carcillo then got a misconduct for shoving one of the linesmen.

Flynn’s Finest:

The Bergeron line was outstanding again. Bergeron had a goal and two assists, finishing a plus-3 and winning 12 of 18 draws (67 percent). His last assist came after undressing Chris Pronger with a move down the right wing before dishing it off to Sturm. Sturm scored off that feed and also added an assist and was a plus-3 with five shots, while Recchi had a goal and was a plus-2 with four hits. … The Krejci line was nearly as good with Krejci and Wheeler each contributing a goal and an assist and Ryder chipping in an assist. All three each finished a plus-2. … Stuart set the tone with his two scraps, while Dennis Seidenberg had another strong game, picking up an assist and finishing a plus-3 with five shots and four blocked shots in a game-high 22:15. … Zdeno Chara was solid in his return after missing his first game of the year, finishing a plus-2 in 21:56. … Tuukka Rask played his first game after Tim Thomas started the past four, and Rask showed no signs of rust as he stopped 31 of the 32 shots he faced, including highlight reel saves to rob Arron Asham early and Simon Gagne late.

Flynn’s Sin Bin:

Dennis Wideman finished a plus-1 and wasn’t officially charged with any giveaways, but it was his failed clear that led to Philadelphia’s lone goal and he also coughed up the puck down low to give Carcillo a chance in front that led to the scrum with Hunwick. … Lucic managed just one hit and one shot in 13:07 as he was largely invisible once again. Sobotka threw his weight around and had three shots, but won just 1 of 6 face-offs (17 percent). … On the opposing side, Carcillo deserves his own special spot in the sin bin for his antics. He leaped into the glass when hit by Seidenberg to draw a boarding call, refused to back up his antics in the third when Thornton came calling and then decided to play tough guy against Hunwick. He then added to his rap sheet by shoving the linesman, which could get him a call from NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell. Bad news for Carcillo, he didn’t actually injure a Bruin on the play, so that means he still is actually eligible to be suspended in the warped world of NHL discipline.

Next: The Bruins continue their seven-game road trip at Montreal on Saturday.

Matt Cooke is in the lineup tonight for Pittsburgh in the Penguins’ game at Carolina, having escaped any discipline from the NHL. Marc Savard isn’t playing for the Bruins against Philadelphia, and the team has acknowledged that Savard will likely not play again this year has he has yet to show any signs of improvement from the concussion he suffered as a result of Cooke’s cowardly blindside shot to his head on Sunday.

“There’s a good chance that Marc may be out for the year,” said Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli prior to tonight’s game against the Flyers. “He’s one of our best players, so it’s devastating to us.”

Savard met with neuro-psychological specialist Dr. Kelly McInnis today, but the examination revealed little progress in his recovery. The Boston Globe reported that Savard remains plagued by symptoms that include sleep disruption, dizziness, sensitivity to light, nausea and difficulty concentrating.

The Bruins are also without forward Miroslav Satan tonight, as he is out with a groin injury. He has been replaced by Brad Marchand on a line with Vladimir Sobotka and Milan Lucic. Captain Zdeno Chara is back after missing one game with a lower-body injury. Jeff Penner is the healthy scratch on defense.

Tuukka Rask is also back in goal after Tim Thomas had started the last four games.

Matchup: Boston Bruins at Philadelphia Flyers, 7 p.m. (NESN; 98.5 FM)

Records: Boston 29-24-12, 70 points; Philadelphia 35-26-4, 74 points

Past History: The Bruins pulled off their most memorable win of the year in the Winter Classic at Fenway Park on New Year’s Day, as Mark Recchi scored with 2:18 left in regulation and Marco Sturm scored in OT for a 2-1 win. The Flyers prevailed in the previous two meetings, winning 4-3 in a shootout in the first meeting in Philadelphia on Oct. 22, and rallying with three goals in the third for a 3-1 win in Boston on Dec. 14. The Bruins still hold an 86-56-21-5 edge in the all-time series, including 37-34-10-1 at Philadelphia.

Bruins Connections: Flyers coach Peter Laviolette coached in the Bruins system, winning a Calder Cup in Providence in 1999, and served as an assistant in Boston in 2000-01.

New England Ties: Laviolette hails from Franklin, Mass. and played his college hockey at Westfield State. Goalie Brian Boucher (Woonsocket, RI) is the backup goalie, but has made just two appearances in 2010, allowing seven goals in 78 minutes. Rookie James van Riemsdyk hails from New Jersey, but he did play his college hockey at UNH. Peter Luukko, the president and chief operating officer of Flyers’ parent company Comcast-Spectacor, was born in Auburn, Mass.

Injury Update: The Flyers have lost goalie Ray Emery (hip surgery) and Mike Rathje (back/hip) for the season. The Bruins could also be without Marc Savard for the season after he suffered a Grade 2 concussion as the result of Matt Cooke’s “legal” cheap shot. Andrew Ference remains out with a groin injury, while Zdeno Chara is questionable with a lower-body injury.

Fight Card: The last meeting made fight history, with Daniel Carcillo dropping Shawn Thornton in the first regular season outdoor fight in the NHL at the Winter Classic. Thornton might like a shot at a rematch against Carcillo. The only other fight between the teams this season featured unlikely combatants Ole-Kristian Tollefesen, since traded to Detroit, and Bruins callup Trent Whitfield, but the Flyers are third in the league with 61 fights, led by Ian Laperriere (19), Carcillo (14) and Arron Asham (12), while heavyweight Riley Cote has just three fights in limited action. The Bruins have had 38 fighting majors, led by Thornton’s 17.

Matchup to Watch: Mike Richards vs. Patrice Bergeron. The former Team Canada teammates won’t be on such friendly terms in this one, as two of the top two-way centermen in the league go head-to-head. Richards is red hot, with 3-6-9 totals in his last six games. Overall, he’s 26-28-54 in 65 games, with 6-6-12 totals in 16 games against the Bruins. Bergeron scored his first goal in 14 games Thursday in Toronto, but still leads the Bruins with 40 points. He’ll need to produce now more than ever with Savard sidelined. And if the Bruins needed any more motivation against Richards, it was his hit on Florida’s David Booth that set the precedent that got Cooke off with no suspension for knocking out Savard.

Three Keys for the B’s:

1. Spread the scoring – The Bruins are without their top playmaker with Savard sidelined. They don’t have anyone capable of replacing his production, so they’ll need everyone to chip in a little more. On Tuesday, the only line that did that was the unit of Bergeron, Marco Sturm and Mark Recchi, who accounted for all three Boston goals. The Bruins need the David Krejci-Blake Wheeler-Michael Ryder and Vladimir Sobotka-Milan Lucic-Miroslav Satan lines to pull their weight as well. It won’t be easy against a Flyers team that has held 11 of their last 13 opponents to two goals or less.

2. Power outage – The Bruins remain ranked first in the league on the penalty kill (31-227, 86.3 percent), but they’ll be tested tonight by the Flyers. Philly has the third-best power play in the league (61-267, 22.8 percent), and it’s been even better of late – 10 for 27 (37 percent) in the last six games. The Bruins have kept Philadelphia 0 for 8 in the first three meetings and they’ll need to do that again, as they’re not likely to produce much on their own power play with Savard out.

3. Stick together – The Bruins still haven’t shown much in the way of heart or passion this season, an ongoing problem that’s been put in the spotlight by their lack of response to Cooke’s cheap shot on Sunday. On Tuesday, they showed they hadn’t learned anything, as Tim Thomas was repeatedly run in his crease with no Bruin ever coming to his aid. With Philadelphia always playing physical hockey, the Bruins will likely have another chance to stand up for each other when things get nasty. Let’s see if they actually do it for a change.

The Lowdown: After back-to-back losses to Pittsburgh and Toronto, things don’t get any easier for the Bruins, who continue their longest road trip of the season with a stop in Philadelphia. The Flyers are 7-1-1 in their last nine games and 11-2-0 at home in 2010. They rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the third for a 3-2 win against the Islanders on Tuesday, the same night Boston was blowing three separate one-goal leads in a 4-3 overtime loss in Toronto. Since the Bruins beat Philly in the Winter Classic, Boston has gone 8-12-5. The Flyers are 16-8-1 since the clash at Fenway. So much for that dramatic overtime win giving the Bruins a boost for the second half of the season. Boston must deal with a red-hot scorer in Jeff Carter, who has nine goals in his last nine games, and an equally hot goalie in Michael Leighton, who is 7-0-1 with a 2.32 GAA in his last eight starts. Boston is in eighth place in the East, three points ahead of the Rangers, but just four points back of sixth-place Philadelphia. A win tonight would not only help them hold on to a playoff spot, but give them a chance to climb up the ranks for a better potential opening-round matchup.

Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli just completed a conference call with the media, and it’s safe to say he’s not too happy with just about anyone involved in the events surrounding Matt Cooke’s cheap shot on Marc Savard.

Chiarelli was particularly displeased with NHL senior vice president Colin Campbell’s decision today to not suspend Cooke for the hit.

“I’m both surprised and angered,” said Chiarelli. “The last couple days I’ve been lobbying Colin Campbell and the (NHL) hockey ops staff in regards to this shot on Savard.”

Campbell defended his inaction by citing the lack of a suspension to Philadelphia forward Mike Richards for a similar hit earlier this year on Florida’s David Booth, all while ignoring two similar hits by Cooke that did draw a pair of two-game suspensions in the past 14 months. Campbell also claimed there was nothing illegal about Cooke’s hit with the way the NHL rulebook currently reads. The NHL general managers did vote today to change the rules regarding headshots, but that does the Bruins and Savard little good right now.

“The issue here is that right now there’s no infraction for what Cooke did,” said Chiarelli. “He didn’t leave his feet. He didn’t charge. He didn’t use an elbow. It was a shoulder hit to the head. It was a very surgical shoulder hit to the head. What I tried to convince the hockey ops staff was to take it outside the current rule and to use the repeat offender criteria and implement an infraction of an intent to injure, so there you have your infraction. And that should distinguish this from the Richards-Booth hit. And that was the issue here. They didn’t want to and they couldn’t distinguish it from the Richards-Booth hit. So I’m disappointed.”

Chiarelli tried to keep his comments about his own team’s lack of an on-ice response to the hit on Sunday in check, but his displeasure with his own club’s action, or lack of action, was also evident.

“I’m not going to comment on that, I want to talk to them first,” said Chiarelli. “I was bewildered at the fact that one, there wasn’t a penalty called, and I guess I was disappointed that there wasn’t a reaction. I want to talk to the team.

“I know it’s been frustrating, and it’s been frustrating for me,” added Chiarelli later in the call when asked about the fans’ discontent with the lack of response on the ice. “I said earlier that I was disappointed and I’m going to speak with the team. … With regard to the team and their lack of response, that’s something that I’m going to deal with.”

Chiarelli was also asked to update Savard’s condition, but didn’t have any good news to report on that front.

“I haven’t even talked to him,” said Chiarelli of Savard, who was diagnosed with a Grade 2 concussion. “You can’t talk to him. He’s been sleeping every day and there’s nothing to show from it.”

It’s the news the Bruins feared would come and might be a shock to those who actually witnessed the incident, but it’s hardly a surprise for anyone familiar with the warped world of NHL discipline.

Matt Cooke will not be suspended. Not for a single game.

While Bruins center Marc Savard may miss the rest of the season, and the Bruins might miss the playoffs as a result, the Penguins head-hunter won’t miss a shift or see a single dollar lifted from his wallet for his brutal, cowardly blindside hit to Savard’s head on Sunday.

So much for Claude Julien’s decision to “let the league take care of it and hopefully make the right decision here.” Were those two points really (that the Bruins didn’t even get) worth not making a statement and standing up for Savard on Sunday really worth it? The only good news is that this decision means Cooke will be eligible to play next Thursday in Boston. But after their disgusting display in Sunday’s closing minutes, how can anybody have any confidence that the Bruins will actually attempt any payback? And if they do, you can be sure the league will issue suspensions for that.

The NHL has yet to officially announce its decision, but TSN has reported that Cooke has escaped punishment for his blatant cheap shot. TSN reported that league senior vice president Colin Campbell explained his decision as being based on consistency involving similar incidents. The prime example was Mike Richard’s hit on David Booth earlier this year that knocked Booth out for 45 games and cost him a shot at playing in the Olympics. Richards was not suspended for that hit.

The only problem with the NHL applying the consistency standard to this decision is the fact that Campbell has never consistently ruled on any discipline matters. The league’s double standards are legendary. That’s especially true in this case, as Cooke himself was suspended twice for almost identical hits, getting two-game bans in January 2009 for a blind-side hit to the head of Carolina’s Scott Walker and again for a similar headshot to the Rangers’ Artem Anisimov last November.

Adding some salt to the wound is the fact that the league’s GM unanimously approved a new rule recommendation at their annual meetings today that would outlaw exactly the kind of hit Cooke put on Savard. If approved by the competition committee and board of governors the rule change will go into effect next season. Maybe by then Savard’s headaches will have ceased and he can open his eyes around bright lights again.

I’d say maybe someday the league would open its eyes toward protecting its employees, but I know better than to expect that to ever happen as long as Campbell and Co. are making the calls.

Final: Toronto 4, Boston 3 (OT)

The Bruins earned a point on the road with their best forward and top defenseman out injured. Normally that would be a decent night’s work. Tonight it wasn’t. The Bruins blew three separate one-goal leads and couldn’t put away a Toronto team that has the second-worst record in the league. The Leafs’ advantage over last-place Edmonton is now six points, making this a double whammy for the B’s, who own Toronto’s first-round pick – a pick that now has less of a chance of turning out to be the top overall selection thanks to this loss. As for the Bruins’ own playoff hopes, they sit back in the eighth and final spot in the East again, two points behind Montreal, which beat Tampa Bay 5-3 tonight, and three points ahead of the Rangers.

Records: Boston 29-24-12, 70 points; Toronto 21-33-12, 54 points

Revisiting the Three Keys for the B’s:

1. Show some heart – Was that a flicker of a pulse? Nope. The Bruins remain flat lined. They scored three goals, which is usually about a week’s worth for this team, but still showed little life and almost no physical presence. After their embarrassing lack of response to the cheap shot on Marc Savard on Sunday, tonight was a chance to show some passion and a willingness to stick together and stand up for each other. Instead, the Bruins were out-hit 33-22 and allowed Tim Thomas to be run over repeatedly with no repercussions. Looks like this team won’t be satisfied until every decent player they have ends up on the injured list.

2. Step up for Savvy – One line made an effort, as the trio of Patrice Bergeron, Marco Sturm and Mark Recchi accounted for all three Bruins goals and combined for  seven points, 10 shots and a plus-6 rating. Pity they didn’t get much help, as the other “scoring line” of David Krejci, Michael Ryder and Blake Wheeler had no points, two shots and were a combined minus-8, while nine other shot attempts were blocked or missed the net. Vladimir Sobotka, Miroslav Satan and Milan Lucic also managed just three shots, no points and were a combined minus-3.

3. Shut down Kessel, again – Phil Kessel finally got his first point against his old club in his fifth game against Boston, though it took some campaigning between periods to get a scoring change and an assist added to Kessel on Toronto’s second goal. He still finished a minus-1, but did create a number of scoring chances, including a pair of partial breakaways late in the third. He finished with four shots and had seven others blocked and two miss the net in 21:45.

Key Play of the Game:

The main reason the Bruins even got a point out of this one was Thomas, who came up especially big on Kessel’s back-to-back late breakaways. After Thomas stoned Kessel when he caught Dennis Wideman up ice with 4:16 to play, Kessel again took advantage of Wideman, getting behind him and coming in alone with 2:20 left in regulation. This time Thomas stacked the pads and made the stop despite losing his mask as Kessel and Wideman crashed into him, keeping the game tied at 3-3 and allowing the Bruins to at least salvage one point.

Fight Card:

There were no fights in this one, with the closest thing a brief shoving match between Wideman and Mikhail Grabovski late in the third. Other than that, the Bruins were once again on their best behavior. Apparently it’s OK to take hooking and holding penalties all they want, but heaven forbid the Bruins actually show some emotion and intensity with a scrap that could possibly put them short-handed, or you know, end up with matching majors like 99 percent of fights.

Flynn’s Finest:

As mentioned, the new top line of Bergeron, Sturm and Recchi at least showed up for this one. Bergeron had a goal and an assist, along with two hits, three takeaways and won 14 of 21 face-offs (67 percent) and was a plus-2 in 19:45. Sturm added his 20^th goal – off a perfect one-touch pass from Recchi – as well as an assist and a team-high five shots while finishing a plus-2 in 19;14. Recchi had a goal and two assists with three shots and a blocked shot to finish plus-2 in 18:04. … Mark Stuart was a minus-1 and took a minor for tripping that gave Toronto a 5-on-3, but also played a season-high 24:15 and had a monster eight blocked shots. … Dennis Seidenberg also picked up his first point as a Bruin with an assist to go with six blocked shots of his own and three hits in 26:45. … Jeff Penner played a simple game in his NHL debut, making no glaring mistakes as he finished even with three hits in 9:17. … The penalty kill remained as effective as always, as Toronto was 0 for 3 on the power play, including a 50-second two-man advantage. The Leafs had just four power-play shots, while Boston managed a pair of shots while short-handed.

Flynn’s Sin Bin:

Other than the Bergeron line, the rest of the forwards contributed little offensively. Krejci created a few chances, including a 2-on-1 with Wheeler with 10 seconds left in regulation, but his pass went off Wheeler’s skate. Krejci finished a minus-3 with no shots in 20:20, and won just 7 of 15 draws (47 percent) for good measure. Ryder was also a minus-3 with no shots in 13:51, while Wheeler was minus-2 with two shots in 17:33, but also took a bad offensive-zone hooking penalty in the first. Ryder also took out Thomas on the winning goal. He was attempting to make a diving backcheck to break up a 2-on-1, but he ended up sliding into Thomas and Nikolai Kulemin flipped the puck into the open net for the win. … Wideman had one of his worst games of the season, which is saying something considering the miserable year he’s had. He did have an assist and five blocked shots, but was a minus-2 with three giveaways. He, along with Stuart, failed to clear a rebound in the crease before Toronto’s goal to tie it at 3-3 at 7:13 of the third. He also screened Thomas on Toronto’s second goal and allowed Kessel to get behind him for two late breakaways. In addition, Wideman fell down in the offensive zone and lost control of the puck, then didn’t get back in the play as Toronto’s ensuing odd-man rush led to the winning goal in overtime. Worst of all, Wideman was the closest Bruin late in the second when Luca Caputi ran over Thomas. Rather than go after Caputi, Wideman instead chose to whine to the ref looking for a call. No one else came to Thomas’ aid either, not then or on any of the several other occasions when the Leafs crashed his crease with impunity. Despite all the miscues, Wideman ended up playing a game-high 29:13. Someone had to pick up the slack in ice-time with Zdeno Chara out injured, but wasn’t there anyone better than Wideman? … Matt Hunwick wasn’t much better, again a common theme this year. He was a minus-1, didn’t get back in time to prevent a 2-on-1 that led to Toronto’s first goal by former Bruin Wayne Primeau and also had a brutal giveaway early when he threw the puck up the middle blindly from behind his own net. Carl Gunnarsson picked off the pass and beat Thomas with a shot, but it clanged off the post. … The fourth line of Steve Begin, Shawn Thornton and Daniel Paille, the supposed “energy line”, managed just one hit (by Paille). … Lucic hit a post with a shot through Luke Schenn’s legs, but didn’t get any shots on net. He was also a minus-1, took a bad hooking penalty and his turnover led to Primeau’s goal on the 2-on-1.

Next: The Bruins continue their seven-game road trip at Philadelphia on Thursday.

While the Bruins continue to await news of any possible discipline for Matt Cooke’s cheap shot on Marc Savard, Boston has learned it has another key injury to deal with.

Captain Zdeno Chara will also miss tonight’s game in Toronto with a lower-body injury. Coach Claude Julien termed the injury, suffered Sunday against Pittsburgh, as a day-to-day issue and hopes to have Chara back for Thursday’s game at Philadelphia. Call-up Jeff Penner will play his first NHL game in Chara’s place tonight.

Savard will be out a lot longer, perhaps for the rest of the season with the concussion he suffered from Cooke’s hit. Darren Dreger of TSN reported from the GM meetings in Florida that Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli said that Savard could be done for the year. Julien was less specific, but equally discouraging, when asked for an update on Savard’s condition during his pre-game media briefing this morning in Toronto.

“The only update I’ve had is that today he is definitely not feeling better,” said Julien. “It’s been a little hard on him, so it’s obviously a pretty serious concussion.”

The question remains how serious the league will take it. The news on that front is also discouraging. NHL senior vice president Colin Campbell, the man in charge of making decisions on supplemental discipline, discussed the hit yesterday on The FAN 590-AM in Toronto. He revealed that he didn’t believe the hit was made with Cooke’s elbow and compared it to the hit Philadelphia’s Mike Richards put on Florida’s David Booth earlier this year. Booth missed 45 games with a concussion; Richards was not suspended.

“We’re talking about a shoulder hit, a legal hit by definition of the rulebook, that causes a concussion,” said Campbell. “That’s our issue. That’s Booth-Richards. That’s the Cooke hit on Savard.”

When the host pressed Campbell on the Cooke hit really not being an elbow, Campbell replied, “No, not at all. We just watched it for about an hour and a half, eight of us.”

Exactly what part of Cooke’s arm connected with Savard’s head is hard to judge from the replays available. But it is clear that the contact was below the shoulder. Cooke did not extend his elbow on the play, but it appears that it is the top of the elbow or the biceps area just above the elbow that hits Savard. Even slightly above the elbow would still be protected by a hard plastic elbow pad, which no doubt contributed to the severity of the injury.

Regardless, the issue shouldn’t be simply whether it was an elbow or not, but whether there was an attempt to injure and a deliberate shot to the head. Cooke has already been suspended twice for such head shots, and there is still some hope that some measure of justice will be served for this latest cheap shot.

“It’s a shoulder,” insisted Campbell, “but we have to look at other aspects yet.”

Also of note, Cooke’s past history of cheap shots won’t necessarily affect Campbell’s view of this latest transgression. Columbus GM Scott Howson revealed on NHL Live this afternoon that repeat offender status cannot be used to determine if an offense is worthy of a suspension. It can only be considered in deciding the length of a suspension if the offense is deemed worthy of punishment.

What’s that all mean? It’s probably all or nothing for Cooke. He’ll either be let off scot free for adding another notch to his gun belt, or he’ll be facing a very long unpaid vacation for his third strike.