Capitals-Thrashers Preview

Regular Season Matchup
	W-L-OT	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF
WAS	50-24-8	29-9-3	21-15-5	16-8-0	42-14-8
ATL	35-41-6	18-21-2	17-20-4	11-11-2	27-33-4
· Complete Standings

Team Stat Comparison
268	Goals	250
240	Goals Against	279
85	Power Play Goals	69
75	Power Play Goals Allowed	88
7	Shorthanded Goals	13
11	Shorthanded Goals Allowed	10
1041	Penalty Minutes	1256
13	Average Penalty Minutes	15

Goalie Breakdown
	GOALIE	GP	W	TGA	GAA	SO	SV	SV%
	Jose Theodore	57	32	157	2.87	2	1415	.900
	Brent Johnson	21	12	53	2.81	0	526	.908
	Semyon Varlamov	6	4	13	2.37	0	146	.918
	Michal Neuvirth	5	2	11	3.00	0	91	.892
	Kari Lehtonen	46	19	134	3.06	3	1364	.911
	Johan Hedberg	33	13	100	3.49	0	775	.886
	Ondrej Pavelec	12	3	36	3.60	0	265	.880

Team Stat Leaders
G	Alex Ovechkin 56	Ilya Kovalchuk 43
A	Nicklas Backstrom 66	Todd White 51
PTS	Alex Ovechkin 110	Ilya Kovalchuk 91
PIM	Donald Brashear 121	Eric Boulton 176
SOG	Alex Ovechkin 528	Ilya Kovalchuk 275

With the race for the best record in the Eastern Conference over, the Washington Capitals are trying maintain their hold on second place.

The Capitals begin their season-ending three-game road trip looking to sweep a home-and-home set from the Atlanta Thrashers on Tuesday night.

Washington (48-23-8) has clinched its second consecutive Southeast Division title, but lost the battle for the top seed in the Eastern Conference to Boston. The Capitals' focus now is on holding onto the second spot, as they're two points ahead of New Jersey.

The Capitals visit Tampa Bay on Thursday before finishing the regular season at Florida on Saturday.

Washington improved its chances for the No. 2 seed Sunday, winning 6-4 over Atlanta (34-39-6) behind four third-period goals.

The Caps have won three of four while scoring at least five goals in each victory, although they didn't get a goal from Alexander Ovechkin on Sunday. Instead, six of his teammates found the back of the net, while Ovechkin came up empty on 11 shots.

"It's great to finally have some scoring from all over the place," said Washington right wing Eric Fehr, who scored for only the second time in 17 games. "Ovie's been carrying the workload pretty much all year."

Ovechkin did extend his point streak to eight games with two assists against the Thrashers. The All-Star left wing has six goals and 11 assists in that span, and leads the NHL with 55 goals. He's second with 106 points, two behind Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin.

Ovechkin will try to close that gap Tuesday. He has 23 goals and 47 points versus the Thrashers -- his highest totals against any team.

Ovechkin has 14 goals and 11 assists in 14 games at Philips Arena, but has been held without a point in two games there this season -- both losses.

Washington was outscored 12-5 in those road defeats to the Thrashers, but won the other three meetings at home.

Atlanta is looking to rebound from Sunday's loss that snapped a four-game winning streak. Three of the victories came against playoff contenders.

"We kept up for two periods," Thrashers defenseman Tobias Enstrom said, "and it seemed like we got a little tired in the third and they ran us down a little bit."

The Thrashers may be eliminated from playoff contention, but Ilya Kovalchuk continues his hot play. The All-Star left wing has a goal in six of the last seven games, and 21 goals and 19 assists in the last 23. He's been held without a point only three times in that stretch.

Kovalchuk is fourth in the league behind Ovechkin with 42 goals and scored a goal in each of the last two meetings with Washington.