NHL: Washington 5, Atlanta 4

ATLANTA, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Jeff Schultz, Matt Bradley and Chris Clark scored in a span of 1:28 of the second period Thursday and the Washington Capitals held on to defeat Atlanta 5-4.

The Capitals took a 5-2 lead into the third period before the Thrashers made it close in a meeting of the top two teams in the Southeast Division. Washington increased its lead over Atlanta to three points.

Although Washington had plenty of offense Thursday, none of it came from superstar Alex Ovechkin. He took four shots on goal, twice as many as any of his teammates, but was held without a goal or an assist.

The teams played to a 2-2 tie in the first period before Schultz put the Capitals ahead to stay with 9:40 remaining in the second. Bradley scored his third goal of the year with 8:26 left and Clark scored just 14 seconds later.

Clark's goal drove Ondrej Pavelec from the nets after he had given up five tallies on 14 shots. Johan Hedberg was perfect the rest of the way.

Semyon Varlamov, playing in place of the injured Jose Theodore, made 22 saves for the win.

Ilya Kovalchuk brought Atlanta within one with his ninth goal of the season and second of the game, one that came with 39 seconds to play.