Aaron Ward suffered a concussion in the third period last night when he was hit by a Francis Bouillon elbow. GM Peter Chiarelli said there is no timetable on Ward's return. Chiarelli has not heard back from the league about any possible discipline for Bouillon.

Ward had been skating with Zdeno Chara on the top defensive pairing. Ward (2-3--5) has not missed a game this season.

* Andrew Ference (upper core) and Bobby Allen (arm) are questionable for tomorrow's game against Buffalo at TD Banknorth Garden. Neither defenseman practiced today.

* Manny Fernandez (left knee) was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 30, when he sustained his injury. The move was made to clear roster space for more defensive help from Providence in case Ference or Allen are unable to play tomorrow. Each team is allowed a maximum of 23 players on its big-league roster. The Bruins currently have 22 active roster players. The transaction is not meant to indicate a setback in Fernandez's progress. Despite being on IR, Fernandez's $4.33 million cap hit counts against Boston's number.

* Matt Hunwick was promoted on emergency recall. Teams who do not have either two goalies, six defenseman, or 12 forwards because of injury, illness, or suspension are eligible to call up players on emergency recall. The first-year pro had been skating mostly with stay-at-home defenseman Sean Curry in Providence.

* Marc Savard and Zdeno Chara manned the points during power-play drills, with Glen Murray, Phil Kessel, and Marco Sturm skating down low.