Lightning general manager Jay Feaster had some pointed words for Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau, who has maintained that his player's hit on Vinny Lecavalier was a mistake in that Matt Cooke was going after puck-carrier Michel Ouellet before Lecavalier got in the way.

The hit resulted in a dislocated right shoulder for Lecavalier, who will have surgery in the next week or so and then be out for 12 to 15 weeks while rehabbing. Lecavalier is expected to be ready for training camp.

Cooke was fined $2,500 by the league for the hit that the league acknowledged should have at least garnered an interference call.

"Every time I read Bruce Boudreau's comments that Vinny just happened to step in front of a train,'' Feaster said. "First that's what it was because (Lecavalier) wasn't looking. Then it was he didn't see him coming. I think he embarrasses himself every time he opens his mouth about the subject. I think they should be happy Matt Cooke is in the lineup tonight, it's only a $2,500 fine.

Feaster continued: "I just wonder how different the reaction might have been if we substitute (Nick Tarnasky) for (Cooke) and then substituted (Alex Ovechkin) for (Lecavalier), and it was Ovechkin getting hit and being out for the next 12 to 15 weeks as opposed to Vinny. I wonder if it would have been one of those happenstance type of things."

There was more.

"This is a northing from their perspective,'' Feaster said. "I wonder if that's what it would have been if it had been Tarns hitting Ovechkin and Ovi being out 12 to 15 weeks. Might have been the end of the world.''

Never a dull moment.