Capitals hold off Thrashers in final minutes to win, 4-3

ATLANTA — Alex Ovechkin scored twice to add to his league-leading total, Semyon Varlamov stopped a penalty shot and the Washington Capitals held on to hand the Atlanta Thrashers their fourth straight loss, 4-3, on Thursday.

Ovechkin didn’t get a chance to go against Ilya Kovalchuk, who sat out his first game since breaking his right foot last weekend.

The Capitals built a 3-0 lead and survived a wild finish. Three goals were scored in the last 2:23, including an empty-netter by Washington’s Mike Knuble and Zach Bogosian’s second goal of the game for Atlanta just before the buzzer.