Martin Jones, Sharks shut out Capitals

WASHINGTON-- Martin Jones made 24 saves for the San Jose Sharks in a 3-0 win against the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center on Tuesday.
Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Brent Burns and Joe Thornton scored for the Sharks (7-6-0), who had lost three in a row. It was Jones' first shutout of the season.
"That was a big win for us just to kind of right the ship a little bit," Jones said. "We thought we've had moments where we've been good and today everything kind of came our way."

Braden Holtby made 20 saves for the Capitals (8-3-1), who had won five in a row.
Vlasic scored at 12:23 of the second period to give San Jose a 1-0 lead. His shot from the point was his second goal of the season, first in five games dating to Oct. 25.
Burns gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead at 17:26 of the second. His fifth goal of the season was a wrist shot from the right circle that beat Holtby on his glove side.
WATCH: All Sharks vs. Capitals highlights
The Sharks held the Capitals to four shots on goal in the first period.
"When we did shoot it we missed the net a few times, but [the Sharks] did a really good job," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "They were detailed through their neutral zone, detailed on their track transition game. When we did put the puck to the net, it wasn't going to the net."
Thornton scored an empty-net goal with 1:32 remaining. The goal was his second of the season.

Goal of the game

Burns capitalized on a pass from Logan Couture from the corner and released a quick wrist shot that gave the Sharks a 2-0 lead.

Save of the game

Jones denied Capitals forward Justin Williams with a right-pad save in the crease at 17:11 of the second period, during Washington's early flurry in that period.

Highlight of the game

Vlasic scored the first goal of the game thanks to a fortunate bounce. His shot from the point deflected off Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner, who was shadowing Sharks forward Joel Ward on the play.

They said it

"He was outstanding at key times for us. There were some flurries at the beginning of the second after we got out of the first period, and the third period when we were getting out of some penalties, he was our best penalty killer. Obviously, a big part of the win." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer on Martin Jones

"For the most part I thought it was a close game, give a lot of credit to San Jose. I didn't think we played poorly at all. I think we converted on some chances and they did a really good job of defending. I don't think we had the desperation in our game until the third period that we needed." -- Capitals coach Barry Trotz
"Good road win. Good commitment to defend by everybody, great goaltending when we needed it and some timely goals. That's our formula; we haven't had it for the last few games. It was nice to get it back." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer

Need to know

San Jose has won 21 of its past 24 games against Washington. … Sharks forward Kevin Labanc played 13:23 in his NHL debut. He was recalled from the San Jose Barracudas of the American Hockey League on Monday.

What's next

Sharks: At the Florida Panthers on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; CSN-CA, FS-F, NHL.TV)
Capitals: At the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday (8:30 p.m. ET; CSN-DC+, CSN-CH, NHL.TV)