Bruins notebook

Not biting on topic

Savard deflects Carcillo’s charges

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell

Globe Staff / May 5, 2010

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WILMINGTON — It’s being referred to as “Bite-Gate,’’ but neither the alleged perpetrator — Bruins center Marc Savard, accused by the Flyers’ Daniel Carcillo of biting him in Game 2 Monday night — nor Bruins coach Claude Julien — were taking the bait yesterday. Savard said he’s not worried about any repercussions when this Eastern Conference semifinal series moves to Philadelphia for Game 3 tonight and Game 4 Friday.

“It’s a non-issue, it’s nothing,’’ said Savard. “I don’t even want to talk about it. It’s just part of the game, I guess.

“Both teams are trying to win a hockey game. If someone wants to do something to put their team in jeopardy, I guess that’s a selfish thing.’’

Julien doesn’t want his team to worry about side issues such as Carcillo’s accusation.

“We’re up, 2-0, in this series,’’ said Julien. “We won two big home games. We’ve got to stay focused here and stay focused on our game and not be distracted by what’s being said.

“To me, it’s pretty obvious. When you watch replays, everybody’s seen how he embellishes. So it’s hard to believe a guy when you see stuff that he does. We really don’t pay attention to that.’’

Savard, who has played two games since missing nearly two months because of a concussion, doesn’t feel he’s being targeted by the Flyers.

“They finish their hits and everything,’’ he said. “That’s playoff hockey, so it’s good.’’

According to a report on CSNNE.com, Flyers captain Mike Richards told Savard during the game, “You were out for six weeks? We’ll put you out for another six weeks.’’

But Savard said that was false.

“No, he never said that to me, so I don’t know where that came from,’’ he said.

Savard said the focus has to be about taking advantage of the opportunity the Bruins have to keep winning and not give the Flyers any life at home.

“We look at each game as the biggest game of the series, and certainly Game 3 is going to be that way,’’ he said.

Room to improve

Bruins defenseman Dennis Wideman expects the Flyers to throw everything they have at Boston tonight.

“They came out hard [in Game 2],’’ said Wideman. “They did a great job. They outplayed us for the majority of the game and we had a hard time in our own zone. We gave them a lot more chances than we’d like to, and I think you have to give them credit there.

“We hung on and found a way to win, which we needed to do, and hopefully we can do that again going into Philly.’’

Wideman said the Bruins need to regroup a little bit defensively, even though they gave up just two goals Monday.

“There were a couple of times where we had some confusion on switches,’’ he said. “We’ve got to do a better job.

“They were coming hard. In our own zone a couple of times, we might have been a step slow and just gave them a little bit too much time to make a play.’’

Holding pattern

Defenseman Mark Stuart, recovering from an infected finger, accompanied the team to Philadelphia but will not suit up tonight. “He’s not ready for that yet,’’ said Julien. “He’s got to be medically cleared. What he’s got is obviously a bone infection. He can practice right now is what we’ve been told, he can do some things, but before we even consider him, he’s got to be medically cleared and then we’ve got to feel that he’s ready to go as well.’’ . . . The Bruins’ power play went 0 for 5 in Game 2 but no one seems very worried about it. “A couple of early ones we had a bit of trouble, but in the third, we had some great opportunities and moved it fine,’’ said Savard. “We got some looks we wanted and that’s why we have two units. One unit was off a bit and our unit picked it up a bit.’’ Julien said it is a matter of keeping the momentum going. “You tell your power play, ‘We’re not going to score every time,’ but somehow you’ve got to make sure that it doesn’t become a negative situation,’’ said the coach. “If you create chances and if you control the puck in their end and you have some opportunities, it’s still a positive.’’ . . . Goaltender Tuukka Rask, defensemen Zdeno Chara, Johnny Boychuk, Wideman, and Matt Hunwick, and forwards Mark Recchi and Patrice Bergeron all had the day off to rest.

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at marrapese@globe.com.