Flyers' Carcillo bites his tongue in response to Bruins coach

Unlike the hundreds of punches Dan Carcillo has taken on the ice this year, he received Bruins coach Claude Julien's verbal blow loud and clear yesterday - and didn't return the favor.

He'd prefer to get his revenge on the ice.

Wasn't it Chris Pronger who said "talk is cheap" last series?

When asked about Carcillo's accusation that Bruins forward Marc Savard bit his finger in the second period of Game 2, Julien essentially called Carcillo an actor and a liar.

"When you watch replays, everybody's seen how he embellishes," Julien said. "So it's hard to believe a guy when you see stuff that he does. We really don't pay attention to that."

The NHL's Hockey Operations department sifted through the Game 2 video yesterday for evidence supporting Carcillo's claim.

"The Hockey Operations group reviews all video that may be linked to or supportive of claims of player wrongdoing,'' NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told the Daily News. "Any such review would be standard.''

As of last night, Savard was not reprimanded with any supplementary discipline. But that doesn't mean Carcillo's allegation didn't go unnoticed.

NHL dean of discipline Colin Campbell told the Daily News that he "had a conversation with the Bruin organization'' yesterday.

One reporter read Julien's quote to Carcillo yesterday during his availability with the media. Carcillo replied, "Claude Julien said that?" And then followed that up with "no comment on that."

You could almost see the steam pouring out of Carcillo's ears as he politely declined comment - not wanting to start a bulletin-board war with his team trailing, 2-0, in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Carcillo said after Game 2 that Savard chomped on his finger during a scrum after a whistle with 5:55 left in the second period. Savard defended himself postgame by saying Carcillo was trying to "rip my teeth out."

Both players tried to downplay the incident yesterday. Savard called it a "non-issue" after the Bruins' practice.

"I'm not making a big deal about it. It's last game and it's over," Carcillo said, before grinning. "Hopefully I get matched up against his line."

Bruins defenseman Mark Stuart, who has missed the last few weeks with a serious infection in his pinkie finger, recently resumed skating and accompanied the team to Philadelphia. Stuart, who could return as early as Game 4 on Friday night, will continue to receive treatment through an IV port in his arm until May 25 . . . Tuukka Rask, Zdeno Chara, Johnny Boychuk, Dennis Wideman, Matt Hunwick, Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi all skipped the Bruins' optional workout yesterday in Wilmington, Mass., before the team flew to Philly.