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SEEN AND HEARD AT VERIZON CENTER

Bruce Boudreau and John Anderson are close friends and used to talk on the phone frequently when they were coaches in the American Hockey League. Anderson was one of the first people Boudreau phoned when he learned he would replace Glen Hanlon as the Washington Capitals on Thanksgiving Day last season.

Now that Anderson has joined Boudreau as an NHL bench boss, they don't get to chat as much these days.

"Not as much as normal," Boudreau said. "We did talk for about 20 minutes the other day, but that was about the first time in a few weeks."

Anderson has not been an instant success with the Atlanta Thrashers the way Boudreau was with the Caps, but he is dealing with a far inferior team. Still, the Thrashers have shown signs of improvement of late, which has been spurred by star scorer Ilya Kovalchuk finding his form. Before Thursday night, Kovalchuk and Alex Ovechkin were tied for the league lead in goals since Jan. 1 with 19.

"I think John's finally got them playing the way he wants them to play and they're all buying in," Boudreau said.

- Corey Masisak

ADD IT UP

While post-lockout rule changes have made points easier to come by, the Caps could break the franchise record for most in a season. That mark was set in the 1985-86 season, when the Caps collected 107 points.

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