Ovechkin scored twice to add to his NHL-leading total, Varlamov turned away 38 shots - including a penalty shot - and the first-place Capitals survived a wild finish for their sixth straight win, 4-3, over the Thrashers last night in Atlanta.

The Thrashers lost their fourth straight - all by one goal. This was their first contest without star Ilya Kovalchuk, who’s expected to miss three to five weeks because of a broken right foot.

The Capitals built a 3-0 lead and were still on top - barely - after three goals in the last 2:23, including an empty-netter by Washington’s Mike Knuble and Zach Bogosian’s second goal of the game for Atlanta just before the buzzer.

Varlamov stopped Jim Slater on a penalty shot in the first period and kept coming up big when Atlanta dominated over the final two periods. Washington went through an 11-minute span with one shot on goal and was outshot, 41-32, after holding a 13-7 edge in the first period.

“He saved the game,’’ Ovechkin said of Varlamov.

Ovechkin opened the scoring just past the midway point of the first period, ripping a power-play goal past Ondrej Pavelec from the top of the left circle. Just under five minutes later, Ovechkin scooped up a loose puck after Maxim Afinogenov fell down, took off on a breakaway, and snapped a shot over Pavelec’s glove hand.

The Washington star had not scored a goal in his last five games against the Thrashers. He took care of that with his 12th and 13th of the season.

Oilers 6, Red Wings 5 - Patrick O’Sullivan beat Jimmy Howard with a wrist shot in the third round of a shootout, and Nikolai Khabibulin stopped Henrik Zetterberg on Detroit’s final attempt to lift host Edmonton past Detroit, which wiped out a 5-1 deficit to force overtime.

Zetterberg started the rally midway through the second period, and Jonathan Ericsson, Todd Bertuzzi, and Patrick Eaves had third-period goals. Darren Helm also scored.

Ales Hemsky had two goals and an assist for Edmonton. Linemate Dustin Penner had a goal - his ninth of the season - and three assists, and Shawn Horcoff had a goal and two assists. Jean-Francois Jacques also scored.

Coyotes 2, Blues 0 - Ilya Bryzgalov made 32 saves for his NHL-leading third shutout of the season, and Daniel Winnik and Taylor Pyatt scored in visiting Phoenix’s win over St. Louis.

Bryzgalov moved to 7-3-0, leading Phoenix to its sixth win in eight games. At 8-4-0, the team is off to its best 12-game start since 2000-01.

Canucks 2, Kings 1 - Mikael Samuelsson scored in the first period and again in the third round of a shootout, pacing Vancouver in Los Angeles.

Lightning 5, Senators 2 - Steven Stamkos had two power-play goals and an assist to help host Tampa Bay beat Ottawa.

Predators 2, Blackhawks 0 - Pekka Rinne made 22 saves for his first shutout of the season and fifth overall, and Joel Ward scored on a second-period power play in host Nashville’s win.