NEW YORK -- Boston and Montreal have been warned by the NHL to keep their emotions under control following a vicious hit on Canadiens forward Richard Zednik by Kyle McLaren of the Bruins.

"It's not left to the individual clubs to seek justice," commissioner Gary Bettman said Friday. "That's our job, and the clubs know that."

McLaren is serving an automatic suspension for at least one game after he put Zednik in the hospital with a crushing elbow to the face Thursday night in Game 4 of the teams' playoff series.

A disciplinary hearing this weekend will determine the length of the suspension.

"He got a match penalty and he deserved it," Bettman said. "I think our record is very consistent in penalizing acts that go over the line swiftly, appropriately and harshly, and that's what we'll do there."

After the game, Canadiens coach Michel Therrien talked of retaliation against the Bruins during Saturday's game.

"Sometimes in the heat of the moment, people say things that they regret and shouldn't say," Bettman said in an interview with a group of Associated Press Sports Editors. "We've been in touch with both clubs, and they understand our view that the temperature should be taken down a few notches, and our expectation is that it will.

"I can understand seeing your player like that why the coach would be upset, but that doesn't mean that any on-ice threat coming to reality would be appropriate. It would be to the contrary, and the clubs understand that."

Zednik remained hospitalized Friday with a severe concussion, broken nose and cut under the right eye. He'll miss the remainder of Boston's playoff series with Montreal, according to the Canadiens' team doctor, Richard Mulder.

Zednik was admitted to Montreal General Hospital's intensive care unit after the hit by McLaren late in Thursday's game. He was motionless on the ice for five minutes before being carried off on a stretcher.

McLaren has said he did nothing wrong, and on Friday said he regretted the incident happened.

"I'm not out there to hurt anybody," McLaren said. "I wish him the best and I'm very sorry he got hurt. It's a split-second thing."

Zednik scored both Montreal goals in Boston's 5-2 loss and was the team's leading scorer in the series with eight points. The best-of-seven series is tied at two games each

Canadiens general manager Andre Savard on Friday said McLaren should be suspended for the rest of the playoffs.