It wasn't enough that Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen was nearly perfect in denying the Capitals while they outplayed the Thrashers.

He helped jumpstart the offense, too.

His 110-foot pass up the middle of the ice to Marian Hossa, who was waiting at the other blueline, set up a Hossa goal that gave the Thrashers a lead in the second period. Then Lehtonen was perfect in overtime and the shootout to lift the Thrashers to a 3-2 victory over Washington.

With each team getting at least one point, there's a three-team deadlock at the top of the Southeast Division with Washington, Atlanta and Carolina all sitting at 60 points.

Lehtonen finished with 39 saves and improved to 4-2 since the All-Star break. He's the reason the Thrashers end their four-game homestand at the top of the division.

"I don't think we deserved to win tonight," Hossa said. "Washington was the much better team. I think [Lehtonen] saved the game."

Especially in the first period.

Washington outshot the Thrashers 18-3 in the first period, but Lehtonen made sure the Thrashers weren't the only team shut out in the first.

His diving save on center Boyd Gordon as Lehtonen fell backward was the highlight save of the period, but he kept it up as the relentless Capitals offensive pressure threatened to put the Thrashers away early.

Some choice words from associate coach Brad McCrimmon after the first helped spark a second period in which the Thrashers outshot Washington 14-6.

It was a turnaround that was capped by Lehtonen's long pass to Hossa with a minute left that sent the Thrashers into the third up a goal.

Hossa said there was a split second of recognition between Lehtonen, who had just made a glove save, and Hossa, who found an opening in the middle of the ice.

Lehtonen sent the puck down the middle of the ice, and Hossa did the rest, scoring his 25th goal of the season.

"That's such a great play, heads-up to see Hoss all the way up there. That got us going," said Eric Perrin, who scored the first Thrashers goal and had a goal taken off the scoreboard when the review showed he kicked it in. Perrin also scored the game-winner in the shootout.

The Thrashers kept Alex Ovechkin, the NHL's leading goal scorer, contained for most of the night, but he was left wide open with 1:21 remaining in the game on a cross-ice pass from Nicklas Backstrom.

Ovechkin scored his 13th goal in 12 career games against Lehtonen to force overtime and help the Caps earn a point on the road. It was a huge defensive lapse, considering the tightness of the Southeast race in which one mistake could be the difference.

"We weren't too thrilled about giving them that goal there at the end, but the result was we came out with the two points we needed," coach and general manager Don Waddell said.

The win came in the Thrashers' last home game before the trade deadline, which is Feb. 26. The Thrashers play their next five games on the road.

That also means this could have been the last home game in a Thrashers uniform for Hossa, who might hit the market if the team can't work out an extension.

No, he said that never crossed his mind. There wasn't an extra moment of reflection on the ice for the Thrashers forward.

And Waddell didn't sound like a guy looking to move one of his best players after the game.

"I hope we're a little stronger when we get back here," he said.