The last time Ondrej Pavelec took the ice against the Washington Capitals he lasted less than three minutes before he was taken off the ice on a stretcher after collapsing unconscious in front of a stunned crowd at Philips Arena. Friday was quite a different story. With Pavelec between the pipes and health on his side, he stonewalled the NHL’s best team; turning aside all 29 shots he faced for a 5-0 shutout.

It was a game that the Thrashers owned from the start and “owned” is not a common term used by opponents facing Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals.

The five-goal margin of victory was the largest this season for the Thrashers and the first five-goal win since Jan. 12, 2010 in a 6-1 win over Ottawa. It was also the team’s first shutout since April 10, 2010 when they knocked out the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0; the same game rookie Evander Kane knocked out Matt Cooke with one punch.

The win improved the Thrashers’ record to 8-9-3 (19 points) for the season and contributions came from every line on the ice. Ben Eager opened the scoring with his third goal of the season, putting the Thrashers ahead 1-0 at the 2:42 mark of the opening frame then several other players found the net.

Nik Antropov, Evander Kane, Dustin Byfuglien and Alexander Burmistrov finished off the scoring with 18-year-old Burmistrov’s tally being one for the highlight reel. After skating the puck into the Capitals’ zone, the Russian turned defenseman Jeff Schultz and the Capitals’ rookie goaltender inside out before sweeping the puck in from behind the net. It was Burmistrov’s third goal of the season and fifth point (1g, 4a) over the last five games.

Kane who scored a pair of goals in each of two previous games against the Caps this year, has seven points (5g, 2a) in four games against Washington this season.

The Thrashers are 2-1-1 against the Caps in four games this season with a 2-0 record on their home ice.

Scoring Summary

Period (Time) Goal (Assists)

1 (2:42)    Eager (3) (Antropov)

1 (8:52)    Antropov (5) (Eager, Oduya)

1 (9:07)    Kane (8) (Little)

2 (19:10)   Byfuglien (6) (Kane)

3 (17:17)   Burmistrov (3) (Ladd, Bergfors)

Scoring by Period

ATL: 3 – 1 – 1 — 5

WSH: 0 – 0 – 0 — 0

Shots by Period

ATL:  7 – 14 – 15 — 36

WSH: 12 – 10 –  7 — 29

Special Teams

ATL: PP – 0/2   PK – 3/3

WSH: PP – 0/3   PK – 2/2

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