In a matchup of two of the NHL's top teams, San Jose built a 5-1 lead midway through the third period against Michal Neuvirth. Neuvirth, who had won his previous three starts, allowed all five goals on 33 shots.
The win gave San Jose 57 points, two more than Chicago for the lead in the Western Conference. Washington slipped three points behind New Jersey for the top spot in the East.
Pavelski opened the scoring with 4:30 to play in the opening period and he gave San Jose a 4-1 advantage 7:12 into the third.
Torrey Mitchell, Ryane Clowe and Joe Thornton also scored for San Jose, which leads the West with 135 goals.
Alex Ovechkin scored his 27th goal of the season for Washington but it came with just 7:20 remaining in the game.
Evgeni Nabokov stopped 24-of-26 shots to get the win, his 22nd of the campaign.
Copyright 2009 by United Press International.
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