Ondrej Pavelec turned aside all 36 shots he faced and Nik Antropov tallied midway through the second period as the Atlanta Thrashers skated to a 1-0 home triumph over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday in a battle of Southeast Division rivals.

Fredrik Modin and defenseman Ron Hainsey collected assists as Atlanta (24-19-9) snapped a three-game losing streak with just its second win in nine contests (2-4-3).

The Thrashers have gotten the better of the Capitals this season, winning four of the six meetings between the division rivals.

Pavelec recorded his third shutout of the season and fifth career by stopping eight shots in the first period, 18 in the second and 10 in the third. The 23-year-old netminder improved to 17-12-7 on the season.

Antropov netted the lone goal with 8:39 remaining in the second period. After Fredrik Modin poke-checked the puck away from Jeff Schultz, the Swede then flipped a centering feed to Antropov in the slot. The 30-year-old Russian skated in and wristed a shot past Semyon Varlamov for his fifth point (two goals, three assists) in six contests.

With the loss, Washington (27-15-9) remained four points behind first-place Tampa Bay (31-15-5).

Varlamov finished with 23 saves but dropped his fourth consecutive decision (0-3-1). The 22-year-old Russian fell to 8-7-3 on the campaign.