Jones makes 40 saves, Sharks defeat Canadiens

MONTREAL -- Martin Jones made 40 saves, and the San Jose Sharks ended a four-game losing streak with a 3-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Sunday.

Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski each had a goal and an assist, and Justin Braun scored for San Jose (13-10-5), which was outscored 20-7 in its previous four games (0-3-1) of a five-game road trip.
"That's a way better game, how we played," said Jones, who made 22 saves in the third period. "Despite the shots, it's the 2-on-1s and the odd-man rushes that have been hurting us, so we thought we did a great job tonight."
WATCH: [All Sharks vs. Canadiens highlights]
The Sharks held a team meeting with general manager Doug Wilson earlier in the day.
"The tone was, 'We can figure this out, we have the team to win games in this League,'" San Jose forward Logan Couture said. "It takes a full buy-in from everyone to do things right and I think tonight is a step in that direction. I thought we did a lot of the little things well tonight.
"We got in shooting lanes, we played hard, you know, we were hard on the walls. I think we can still do a better job at getting pucks out in the third when they pinched down a bunch of times, but we'll take the win."
Jeff Petry scored for Montreal (12-10-5), which is 1-4-2 in its past seven games. Carey Price made 26 saves.
"We knew they were going to be hungry and I think they were the better team in the first period," Petry said. "And as the game went on, I think we got better, but that's something that we need to do from the start. You know, I think we've won one of our last [seven] so there's no reason we shouldn't be desperate as well to get points and to move up in the standings."
Braun gave San Jose a 1-0 lead with his first goal of the season at 2:55 of the first period. After intercepting a pass from Petry in the neutral zone, he skated in over the blue line and scored on a slap shot that beat Price five-hole.
"It was my fault," Petry said. "I kind of hesitated and [Braun] read that I was going to make the pass. And I took a split second and he read it and just stepped in front. When I look there, I think the safer play was just to chip it in the neutral zone and play it a little safer there."

Burns made it 2-0 at 10:29 during a 5-on-3 power play. After switching places on the point with Erik Karlsson, Burns skated to the slot and received a pass from Pavelski before scoring on a wrist shot over Price's right shoulder.
Petry cut it to 2-1 at 12:15 of the second period.
Pavelski scored to make it 3-1 at 15:51. He drove to the net from the right circle and beat Price on a low one-timer off a centering pass from Burns from the right corner. The goal was his 17th of the season.
"That's what we've been lacking all year it seems like, that next goal," said Couture, who had an assist on the goal. "Countless times we've had a lead and given it up right away and haven't been able to build on it. So [Pavelski], being the captain and leader that he is, went out and made a great play and scored a goal."

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They said it

"At the end of the day, it usually comes down to just wanting it a little bit more, competing a little bit more, sacrificing a little more. We've been in a tough stretch, but it's nice to get a win and hopefully we can keep climbing now." -- Sharks captain Joe Pavelski
"That's a good hockey team over there. There are a lot of veterans over there who know how to play with the lead. They capitalized on their opportunities early so that's on us, but we did rally back a little bit. And in the third we were creating some offense, but you know what, [Sharks goalie Martin Jones] played pretty good." -- Canadiens forward Max Domi

Need to know

Sharks defenseman Radim Simek played 13:19 and was plus-one in his NHL debut. … The Canadiens have scored two goals or fewer in five of their past six games. … Montreal forward Andrew Shaw had an assist on Petry's goal for his 200th NHL point.

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What's next

Sharks: Host the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSCA, FS-CR, NHL.TV)
Canadiens: Host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN2, RDS, TSN5, NHL.TV)