Ference

BOSTON — First he was punched and knocked over by Craig Rivet and then he was also knocked over by a blow from Raffi Torres.

But with 6:13 left in regulation of the Bruins’ 2-1 win over Buffalo at TD Garden in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, Andrew Ference received a 10-minute misconduct along with Torres.

“I got punched and thought I was drawing a penalty,” Ference said after the game, also adding that he didn’t say anything he thought warranted the misconduct.

At the same time, Dennis Wideman and Vladimir Sobotka earned penalties, so the Bruins played a chunk of the game’s final five minutes with just four D and three centers available.

“We had to keep our shifts short and we didn’t need a goal, we had the lead,” said center Patrice Bergeron about weathering that storm. “But we had to keep going at them, we couldn’t just sit back because their speed is great.”

Maybe Ference will get an explanation at a later date. Or maybe we should just assume Rivet and Torres are supporters of “Big Oil” and are sick of Ference’s environmentalist ways.