Montreal’s Gregory Stewart, center, puts pressure on San Jose goaltender Brian Boucher, left, as Sharks’ Brad Lukowich looks for the rebound during Saturday’s game in Montreal. The Canadiens beat the Sharks 3-2.

MONTREAL — As long as he keeps on winning, Jaroslav Halak has supplanted All-Star Carey Price as the Montreal Canadiens’ go-to goalie.

Andrei Markov and Saku Koivu each had a goal and an assist in Montreal’s three-goal first period and the Canadiens held on for a 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night.

Halak made 44 saves to win his fourth straight start for Montreal, which had lost 12 of 15 (3-11-1) prior to its current streak.

“As long as we get the wins, that’s all we need right now,” said Halak, who has taken full advantage of coach Guy Carbonneau’s decision to go with the hot hand in goal in the wake of Price’s struggles since returning from an ankle injury.

Josh Gorges also scored in the first for the Canadiens, who beat Brian Boucher three times in a 6:42 span to take a 3-0 lead.

Joe Pavelski and Joe Thornton drew San Jose within one just 1:55 into the second when they scored goals 49 seconds apart.

The Sharks outshot the Canadiens 46-21 overall, including a 14-4 margin in the second, and 18-7 in the third.

“We faced a really good team tonight and I don’t think we played our best,” Koivu said. “The first half was better but then we were kind of too passive in the second half.”

Halak came up with a big stop midway through the third on a backhand from in close by Patrick Marleau, who hit the left post earlier in the period.

The San Jose captain did his part to get his team back in the game in the second when he made a patient pass from behind the net to set up Thornton’s goal.

In other games on Saturday:

Devils 7

Panthers 2

NEWARK, N.J. — Zach Parise had two goals and an assist and New Jersey made life easy for Martin Brodeur in his second game back from elbow surgery, routing Florida.

Capitals 4

Bruins 3

BOSTON — Alexander Semin scored on a slap shot from just inside the red line 22 seconds into overtime to lift Washington past Boston in a matchup of the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

Ducks 4

Stars 3

DALLAS — Corey Perry scored the tying goal in the third period, Teemu Selanne added the winner 1:31 later and Anaheim handed Dallas its fourth straight home loss.

Rangers 6

Avalanche 1

NEW YORK — Ryan Callahan and Nikolai Zherdev scored in the first 68 seconds, and the Rangers busted out of their offensive doldrums to give coach John Tortorella his first win with New York.

Maple Leafs 4

Senators 3

OTTAWA — Pavel Kubina scored his second goal of the game 33 seconds into overtime, and Curtis Joseph made 29 saves for Toronto for his second win of the season.

Thrashers 5

Hurricanes 3

ATLANTA — Rich Peverley scored two of Atlanta’s four third-period goals, and Ilya Kovalchuk had two goals and three assists.

Islanders 2

Sabres 0

UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Yann Danis made 31 saves for his second straight shutout at home, and Sean Bergenheim scored twice for New York.

Predators 8

Red Wings 0

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jason Arnott scored three goals, and Pekka Rinne made 30 saves for his sixth shutout of the season for Nashville.

Blues 3

Predators 1

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Rookie David Perron scored the winning goal on a third-period power play, and Chris Mason made 26 saves in St. Louis’ victory over Phoenix.

Oilers 3

Wild 2

EDMONTON, Alberta — Ales Hemsky, Zack Stortini and Tom Gilbert scored goals, and Liam Reddox had two assists to help Edmonton beat Minnesota.