Tonight's Lineup vs. Boston

As expected, Cristobal Huet will start in goal for the Caps and will oppose Boston's Tim Thomas. The scratches are Tomas Fleischmann, Steve Eminger and Quintin Laing.

Here's the lineup:
Forwards
Ovechkin-Backstrom-Kozlov
Laich-Fedorov-Semin
Cooke-Steckel-Bradley
Brashear-Gordon-Fehr

Defense
Morrisonn-Green
Poti-Schultz
Erskine-Jurcina

Coach Bruce Boudreau said he inserted Fehr for Fleischmann to get a little more size and net presence, and he put in Erskine for Eminger to get a little more toughness against a rugged Boston lineup.

Asked about the lineup changes, Boudreau said: "It had everything to do with the opposition. They're a big physical team. That's the same reason Fleischmann isn't in and Fehr's in. We think Eric might be able to get to the net a little better."

About his team's approach to the remainder of the season, Boudreau said: "We know exactly what's in front of us, and how the difficult the road is going to be. But we feel like we're in every game. So we're right there."

As for tonight being a game in hand on Carolina, Boudreau said: "Someone once told me that you have to make hay while the sun shines. Tonight is one of those days. We have to be three points back and watch Carolina go into Atlanta tomorrow night."

"Everything is still about how we play," he added, referring to the Caps controlling their own destiny. "It's not to the stage, we hope, we hope, we hope. We just need to put something together."