WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Capitals started slowly and finished fast.Alex Ovechkin led the way again.Ovechkin had a goal and an assist Adam Pelech Jersey Womens , and the Capitals beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-1 on Friday for their season-high fourth consecutive victory.Detroit posted 14 of the first 15 shots. Washington then held a 19-18 edge in shots and scored the final three goals after snapping out of a sluggish start late in the first period.“I didn’t like the first part of our first period,” Washington coach Todd Reirden said. “I thought the last five minutes in the first period was good. That five minutes we were able to build on, and then that kind of carried us through the rest of the game.”The game was tied at 1 before Michal Kempny and Ovechkin scored 1:56 apart in the third period.Kempny took advantage of a quick pass from Travis Boyd and fired a slap shot past Jonathan Bernier at 6:38.“It was a great pass,” Kempny said. “I had a lot of time, so I just took a look and shot.”Kempny had not scored this season until Washington’s previous game, a 4-2 victory over Chicago on Wednesday.Ovechkin extended the lead to 3-1 with his 16th goal of the season. Tom Wilson also had a goal and an assist for the defending Stanley Cup champions.Detroit grabbed an early lead when Andreas Athanasiou scored his 10th of the season 8:46 into the first period.Athanasiou and the Red Wings had chances to stretch the lead during the much of the second, but came up empty.“We (could have) made it a two- or three-goal game there,” Athanasiou said. “The chances were there Thomas Hickey Jersey Womens , but they didn’t go in, and (the Capitals) capitalized on theirs. It was tough.”The Red Wings were 9-2 in their last 11 games before the trip to Washington.The Red Wings repeatedly pressured the Capitals throughout the first 15 minutes before Washington came up with several chances in the last part of the period, including a Madison Bowey shot off the post.The Capitals rebounded and dominated with 10 of the next 11 shots but still couldn’t get the puck past Bernier, even coming up empty on two power plays. Bernier finished with 17 stops.The pressure finally paid off when Wilson scored with 7:47 left in the second. Nicklas Backstrom celebrated his birthday with his 19th assist on the play.Washington goalie Braden Holtby helped with stops on a few breakaways, including one late in the second period where he robbed Athanasiou. Holtby had 31 saves.NOTES: F Evgeny Kuznetsov and F T.J. Oshie both were out again for the Capitals. They have missed four games in a row with upper-body injuries. … Reirden said before Friday’s game that G Pheonix Copley will likely get the start on Saturday afternoon against the Rangers in New York. … F Thomas Vanek’s assist on Athanasiou’s first-period goal was the 400th of his career. … Former Capitals D Mike Green, now with the Red Wings, reached the 800-game milestone.UP NEXTRed Wings: Return home to play Buffalo for the opener of a three-game homestand.Capitals: Head to New York for a Saturday matinee with the Rangers. MONTREAL (AP) — Martin Jones stopped the Montreal Canadiens — and the San Jose Sharks‘ four-game skid.Jones made 40 saves — 22 shots in the third period alone — to help the Sharks beat the Canadiens 3-1 on Sunday night. Justin Braun, Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski scored for San Jose.“We did a great job of eliminating those Grade-A chances and those odd-man rushes that have been causing us some problems John Tavares Jersey ,” Jones said. “It was much better tonight.”Jones improved to 7-1-0 in his career against Montreal.Jeff Petry scored for Montreal, and Carey Price made 26 saves. The Canadiens dropped to 12-10-5 overall and fell to 1-3-0 on their current five-game homestand.“They were the better team in the first period,” Petry said. “We got better but that’s something we need to do from the start. We’ve won one in our last seven so there’s no reason we shouldn’t be desperate as well to get points and move up in the standings. We need to go out and dictate the pace.”Both teams played Saturday, with the Canadiens downing the New York Rangers, and the Sharks falling in Ottawa. The Sharks have won seven straight and 11 of their last 12 against Montreal.“They capitalized on a couple of early opportunities in the first period and that’s on us,” Max Domi said. “But when you run into a goalie like that, and he’s seeing everything, you have to make it hard for him. We managed to do that on Petry’s goal. Just not quite enough.”San Jose opened the scoring at 2:55 of the first Authentic Jordan Eberle Jersey , with Braun beating Price after a bad giveaway by Petry in his own end. With San Jose on a 5-on-3 advantage, Burns made it 2-0 with a wrist shot from the slot at 10:29 of the first to extend his points streak to four games.Petry made up for his earlier turnover when he scored at 12:15 of the second. Just moments after shooting the puck off Jones’ mask, the Canadiens defenseman got his stick on a pass from Jonathan Drouin for his third of the season.Pavelski capped off a give-and-go with Burns and Logan Couture to make it 3-1 at 15:51 of the second, the Sharks captain’s team-leading 17th goal of the season.“They came back and got one but there wasn’t the sense of panic for us tonight,” Pavelski said. “Jones was fabulous. He did a good job.”Notes: Former first-round pick Nikita Scherbak is no longer with the Canadiens after being claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday. … Andrew Shaw assisted on Petry’s goal for his 200th career NHL point.UP NEXTSharks: Host Carolina on Wednesday night.Canadiens: Host Ottawa on Tuesday night.