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Capitals hope for encore from Ovechkin vs. Thrashers

Feb 2, 2008 - 12:10 PM Atlanta (25-25-4) at Washington (24-23-5) 7:00 pm EST

WASHINGTON (Ticker) - Saturday's Southeast Division matchup between the Atlanta Thrashers and Washington Capitals was supposed to feature two of the NHL's premier goal-scorers.

Instead, fans will have to settle for one as Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals host the Thrashers, who will be without fellow All-Star Ilya Kovalchuk.

Ovechkin and Kovalchuk, who both are former first overall draft picks, are the league's top two goal-scorers with 43 and 38, respectively. The 22-year-old Ovechkin also leads all players with 70 points, while his fellow Russian is tied for fourth with 64.

With the spotlight all to himself due to the 24-year-old Kovalchuk's knee injury, Ovechkin will be hard-pressed to duplicate his performance against Montreal on Thursday, when he scored four goals - including the winner in overtime - and added an assist in a 5-4 triumph.

What made the 2006 Calder Trophy winner's performance even more impressive was the fact he received stitches in his lip and a broken nose earlier in the contest.

It was the second four-goal and five-point effort of the season for Ovechkin, who also accomplished the feat in an 8-6 victory over Ottawa on December 29.

Ovechkin has recorded 11 goals and seven assists in nine games since signing a 13-year, $124 million extension on January 10. The superstar is looking to lead the Capitals to a sixth straight home win for the first time since November 17-December 16, 2000.

Meanwhile, Atlanta has won two straight contests after entering the All-Star break on a five-game losing streak. Defenseman Tobias Enstrom netted a power-play goal with 18 seconds remaining in the third period and Eric Perrin scored the lone tally in the shootout as the Thrashers posted a 5-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.

The teams have split the first four meetings this season. Todd White has scored three goals for Atlanta, while Ovechkin and defenseman Mike Green each have tallied twice for Washington.