Capitals 0 - 5 Thrashers
Final
  for this game

Atlanta dishes out Capital punishment as Pavelec blanks Washington

Nov 20, 2010 - 4:14 AM Atlanta, GA (Sports Network) - Ondrej Pavelec turned away 29 shots to record his first shutout of the season, as the Atlanta Thrashers stymied the red-hot Washington Capitals, 5-0, at Philips Arena.

Evander Kane, Nik Antropov and Ben Eager all scored a goal and set up another for the Thrashers, who snapped a three-game losing streak.

"It was a team effort. We played all 60 minutes," Pavelec said.

Washington netminder Braden Holtby was pulled after stopping just two of the five shots he faced and replaced by fellow rookie Michal Neuvirth, who made 29 saves.

"We just didn't play well enough to win," said Washington head coach Bruce Boudreau.

The Capitals suffered their first regulation loss since October 28 at Minnesota. The Southeast Division leaders had gone 8-0-1 over their previous nine games.

The Thrashers struck three times before the contest was 10 minutes old.

Eager scored on a redirection in front of Holtby to put Atlanta on the board at the 2:42 mark.

Then, Antropov and Kane tallied 15 seconds apart, forcing Boudreau to swap goalies.

Holtby, 21, playing in just his fourth NHL game, mishandled the puck while attempting to cover it up. Antropov picked up the loose puck in the low slot and moved to his backhand before finding the open cage at 8:52.

Kane made it 3-0 when he emerged with the puck from behind the Washington net and fired a sharp-angle shot past a stunned Holtby. It was his eighth goal of the season and fifth against the Capitals.

Dustin Byfuglien beat Neuvirth on the short side to give Atlanta a four-goal advantage with 50 seconds remaining in the middle stanza.

Alexander Burmistrov, the eighth overall pick in June's draft, finished the scoring with 2:43 left in the third period.

Game Notes

Pavelec entered Friday with a 1-8-0 career record against the Capitals...Washington forward Alexander Semin had a nine-game point streak halted by the Thrashers...The Capitals had won 10 of the last 11 meetings...Washington defenseman Tyler Sloan finished with a minus-4 rating.






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