Washington, DC (My Sportsbook) - Alexander Semin had a goal and two assists as the Washington Capitals knocked off the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-3, at Verizon Center.

Mike Green added a goal and an assist while Michal Neuvirth stopped 21 shots in the win for the Capitals, who have taken two of their last three games.

"I thought we were really good early," said Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau. "We have a tendency. We get cute. Once you have a little bit of success, instead of bearing down and continuing doing the things that brought you that success, you ad lib a little bit and that gets us in trouble."

Ilya Kovalchuk and Todd White each had a goal and an assist for the Thrashers, who have dropped three of four. Kari Lehtonen gave up all four goals on 40 shots.

"We just respect them too much," said Kovalchuk of the Caps. "That's why we were kind of lazy and didn't show up tonight."

The Caps drew first blood just 4:27 into the game on the power play, as Semin slipped past a defender charging down the right wing, faked the slap shot and slipped a wrister over the left shoulder of Lehtonen.

Less than a minute later, Washington made it a 2-0 contest with another power- play goal, when Green wristed a shot from the left circle that got behind Lehtonen, and Brooks Laich swept it into the net.

However, Atlanta made it a 2-1 game with a power-play goal of its own, as White fired a pass from the low right side to the left circle for the easy one-timer by Kovalchuk with 3:49 left in the frame.

The Thrashers tied the game at the 3:56 mark of the second period. Niclas Havelid had the puck near his own net and fired it through center ice for a wide-open Rich Peverley, who skated in all alone and snapped the puck between the pads of Neuvirth.

Washington, though, again scored on the power play to take a 3-2 lead. Nicklas Backstrom threw a pass from the low right side to the high slot, where Green's one-timer found the back of the net with 7:35 left in the second.

The Caps added some security at the 4:47 mark of the third as Eric Fehr picked up a blocked shot and sent a knuckleball past Lehtonen.

Atlanta made things interesting with a shorthanded goal, as Kovalchuk beat a Washington player for the puck down at the low left side, then fed it to White, who calmly wristed it into the left corner of the net with 1:57 to play.

However, Atlanta was unable to net the equalizer despite pulling Lehtonen.

Game Notes

The Capitals play the Eastern Conference-leading Bruins in Boston on Saturday...The Thrashers host Carolina on Saturday...Washington has taken two of the three games against Atlanta this season...Backstrom has an eight-game point streak and has three goals and eight assists during that run...Washington went 3-for-8 on the power play while Atlanta finished the game 1-for-5.