Kovalchuk stays hot, but Thrashers fall

Washington — Trying to outscore the other team’s power play isn’t a sustainable way to win hockey games.

What worked for the Thrashers on Tuesday night against the last-in-the-West Colorado Avalanche wasn’t about to work Thursday night at the home of the second-in-the-East Washington Capitals.

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Luis Alvarez/AP

The Thrashers, including Ron Hainsey (6) and goalie Kari Lehtonen, ganged up Washington Capitals’ star Alex Ovechkin (8).

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The Thrashers put the Capitals on eight power plays. Atlanta scored on one of them. Washington scored on three.

That was the story of the Capitals’ 4-3 victory.

Only two NHL teams have scored more power-play goals this season than Washington, which averages more than one a game. They’ve got the NHL’s goal-scoring leader, Alex Ovechkin; Alexander Semin, who would be the top forward on most NHL teams; the NHL’s top-scoring defenseman, Mike Green; and 50-assist man Nicklas Backstrom.

“They’re an incredible power play, with some of the most dangerous guys in the league,” Thrashers penalty-killer Rich Peverley said. “You can’t take that many penalties against a team like that. They capitalized.”

“Usually, on the other team there’s one or two guys where you always have to know where they are at, and that team has probably five guys,” Thrashers goalie Kari Lehtonen said.

The Thrashers have at least one guy like that, Ilya Kovalchuk, and he came through with a goal and an assist. The goal was his team-high 32nd this season and his 11th of the month, tying Ovechkin for the best February in the NHL.

Ovechkin had one assist but no goals to add to his previous 44.

“We did shut him down,” Peverley said, “but it doesn’t matter.”

That’s because the Thrashers couldn’t shut down Ovechkin’s supporting cast. Semin scored a power-play goal and assisted on the two others. Green scored a power-play goal and assisted on another. Brooks Laich and Eric Fehr also scored for the Capitals.

A hooking penalty on Todd White and a slashing penalty on Eric Perrin led to power-play goals in the first 5:20. Perrin’s penalty was his first of three.

“We didn’t show up tonight,” Kovalchuk said. “Right after the start, we took those two stupid penalties, and then it was 2-zip.”

Another stupid penalty, this one on Ovechkin, let the Thrashers back into the game. He fell to the ice after the blade of Peverley’s stick hit him in the face, and when nothing was called, he took it out on Marty Reasoner. The resulting roughing penalty led to Kovalchuk’s goal.

“I was just trying to lift [Ovechkin’s] stick, and it just happened to catch him,” Peverley said. “It wasn’t intentional.”

Peverley scored a breakaway goal off a long pass from Niclas Havelid to tie the score.

Two days earlier, the Thrashers had yielded six power plays to the Avalanche but scored more shorthanded goals (two) than power-play goals allowed (one).

But by the time White scored the Thrashers’ sixth shorthanded goal in as many games, with 1:57 to play Thursday night, the Capitals already had all the goals they would need.

“They have a pretty good power play, and we just gave them too many chances on it,” Thrashers coach John Anderson said. “And we’re not a team that can afford to give too many chances.”