Bruins defenceman Aaron Ward examined for broken facial bone

BOSTON - Boston Bruins defenceman Aaron Ward left Sunday night's playoff game with what team doctors fear is a broken orbital bone after he was punched by Carolina's Scott Walker.

Bruins coach Claude Julien asked the NHL to look into the play, and complained about Jussi Jokinen's slash that sent Zdeno Chara to the locker room with less than a minute left in the second period.

"The slash on Zdeno is a cheap shot; we all know that. The Walker incident is not something they should be proud of," Julien said after Boston beat Carolina 4-0 in Game 5 to avoid elimination in the Eastern Conference semifinals. "Something like that is not what you want to see, your player put in that position. Hopefully the people in charge will see that play and decide what they want to do about it."

Ward left the game with 2:47 remaining after Walker punched him in the face. Walker was given a misconduct, a fighting major and an instigator penalty.

Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice laughed off the possible repercussions.

"Scott probably has sore knuckles," he said.

Asked whether there will be a fine, he added: "I may have to sell my truck."