Matt Cooke will play with Sergei Fedorov and Alexander Semin on the second line in his debut. He was chatting with Canucks play-by-play guy Jim Hughson (who is doing tonight's game for Hockey Night in Canada) while we were waiting for Bruce Boudreau. His take on playing with the skilled Russians? "I told them to dump it in at least once early in the game." Expect him to have plenty of jump tonight.
Boudreau said the the Caps set 18 shots against as a goal before last night's game in New Jersey -- and they gave up exactly that number. It was certainly one of the best defensive efforts in recent weeks, and maybe their most complete outing in the Boudreau Era.
As crazy as it might sound, the Maple Leafs are all of two points behind the Caps. Toronto has been written off for weeks, but a 5-1-1 stretch actually has the Leafs on the cusp of playoff contention.
