The lineup is the same today, with Cristobal Huet in place of Olie Kolzig in net. Huet's career numbers against Boston + Kolzig playing two straight before = easy decision for Bruce Boudreau. Sami Lepisto is in place of an injured John Erskine for the second straight game. Zdeno Chara will not play for the Bruins, who will go with Alex Auld in goal. Auld played very well against the Caps in Boston, and Tim Thomas got lit up the last time here, so another simple choice.

The Caps are chasing the Bruins and the Philadelphia Flyers, so yesterday's three-point game between the two teams did Washington no favor.

"You could see it coming because Philly had so many chances to put them away, and they didn't put them away," Boudreau said. "So I said something bad is going to happen, and unfortuntely it did."

It will be interesting to see where this game goes from a physical standpoint. The last one was very chippy in part because of the Caps' 10-2 win just a few days before. Now the teams have had a week to cool off, but this one is so important in the scope of the playoff chase that there could be more big hits and fights regardless of what transpired the past two games between the teams.