The New Jersey Devils host the Washington Capitals on Friday for what will be the final meeting between the two teams of the regular season. The two squads met earlier this week in Washington where the Devils squeezed out an overtime win with a goal by John Madden with under a minute to go. The win marked the first time the Devils were atop the Eastern Conference since 2001. Tuesday's trade deadline saw both teams make a few noteworthy moves. The Devils, who made the first official trade of the day, sent enforce Cam Janssen to St.Louis in exchange for defenseman Bryce Salvador. Meanwhile Capitals GM George McPhee found himself rather busy as he brought in the likes of LW Alex Giroux, RW Matt Cooke, C Sergei Fedorov, and G Cristobal Huet. The arrival of Huet makes the goaltending situation in Washington tricky as Olaf Kolzig and Brent Johnson have been vying for the starting position all season. Huet comes in with 21 wins and a 2.56 GAA and it would not be surprising seeing him get the nod in his first game on Friday. Also likely to make his debut is Sergei Fedorov. The 38-year old veteran comes to a fairly young squad with a little or no playoff experience. The Pskov native who has hoisted Lord Stanley's cup 3 times will most likely be paired with fellow Russians Alexander Ovechkin and Alexander Semim if not on a full line that almost certainly the power play. Ovechkin has failed to register a point in his last two games but still leads the NHL in goals with 48 and is only 2 points behind fellow Russian Evegeni Malkin who has 84 on the season. The Devils lead the season series 2-1 and hope to capitalize on mistakes made this earlier this week in Carolina to increase their lead in the conference and division. Going into tomorrow night the Devils are 1 point in front of Pittsburgh in the Atlantic and 2 ahead of Ottawa in the conference, both of whom lost on Thursday night. Meanwhile the Capitals hope that their newest acquisitions will help give them their first playoff berth since 2002. Despite being second in their division, the Capitals are in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, five points out of the final playoff spot. The Devils expect Salvador to make his debut as well on Friday marking the first time the 7 year player has suited up for an Eastern Conference team.
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