In brief: Sports digest: Martin Jones notches shutout as San Jose Sharks beat Washington Capitals minus Alex Ovechkin

NHL: Martin Jones is fitting in perfectly in goal for the San Jose Sharks.

Jones made 31 saves for his second straight shutout and the Sharks took advantage of Alex Ovechkin’s absence from Washington’s lineup to beat the Capitals 5-0 on Tuesday night.

The Sharks improved to 3-0-0 and have outscored their opponents 12-1. Jones allowed a goal on the first shot he faced this season, but has blanked opponents for the following 178 minutes, 11 seconds.

Jones, acquired from Boston in the offseason, said Washington playing without Ovechkin (personal reasons) and first-line center Nicklas Backstrom (offseason hip surgery) did not concern him or the Sharks.

“You can’t really replace guys like that, but for us, we were just worried about our game,” Jones said. “It didn’t really matter who was in the lineup. I thought we did a really good job executing.”

Matt Nieto and Chris Tierney each had a goal and an assist, and Joe Thornton, Mike Brown and Tomas Hertl added goals.

Ovechkin missed the game because of personal reasons. The Capitals sent out a note on Twitter about 35 minutes before the game saying the Russian star would not play. They confirmed earlier in the day that the left wing did not take part in the morning skate, and coach Barry Trotz said he would be a game-time decision.

Ovechkin had a goal and an assist Saturday night in Washington’s season-opening victory over New Jersey.

Trotz refused to elaborate on Ovechkin afterward, except to say that the left wing would return Thursday night against Stanley Cup champion Chicago.

“He will be on the ice, and I expect him fully to be playing against the Chicago Blackhawks,” Trotz said. “We could have used him tonight, and he’s a great player. He’s our captain. He’s our leader but we didn’t have today.”

San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said the Capitals have plenty of talent in addition to Ovechkin and Backstrom, adding those are not the only two players that make the Washington offense go.

“Obviously, those guys are key people for them but at the same time, they have a lot of depth,” DeBoer said. “The biggest mistake we could make was play differently because those guys aren’t here. We have a lot of respect for the depth on that team.”

The Sharks are showing their own depth, specifically on their fourth line that’s been playing solid hockey so far.

Brown (one goal), Tierney (the two points) and Barclay Goodrow (two assists) combined for five points and continued their strong early-season play.

“We’re playing well,” Brown said. “We’re feeling each other out right now. As of now… we’re doing everything that we need to do.”

Thornton opened the scoring on a power play in the first period. Brown and Hertl stretched the lead to 3-0, scoring off of rebounds early in the second period. Tierney’s shot set up Brown at 2:36. Hertl scored after the Capitals were slow to clear goalie Braden Holtby’s save of a Tommy Wingels nearly 5 minutes later.

Washington appeared to cut the lead to two a few minutes later, but the officials waved off Dmity Orlov’s goal after San Jose challenged due to goalie interference.

Wings beat Lightning: Henrik Zetterberg had a goal and an assist and Jimmy Howard made 20 saves to help Detroit beat visiting Tampa Bay 3-1.

Jets drop Rangers: Brian Little scored twice and Michael Hutchinson made 40 saves to lead Winnipeg to a 4-1 win over the Rangers in New York to finish 3-1 in a season-opening road trip.

Canadiens now 4-0: Tomas Fleischmann finished off an odd-man rush with his first goal of the season early in the third period to lift Montreal to a 3-2 win at Pittsburgh to complete a season-open road trip.

McDavid notches first in loss: At Dallas, Jason Spezza scored three goals, including the tiebreaker late in the third period, and the Stars spoiled No. 1 draft pick Connor McDavid’s first goal with a 4-2 victory over Edmonton.

Miller blanks Kings: Ryan Miller made 15 saves in his 36th career shutout, Adam Cracknell scored his second goal in two games, and Vancouver completed a Southern California sweep with a 3-0 victory at winless Los Angeles.

Alexander Edler scored and Derek Dorsett added an empty-net goal for the Canucks, who followed up a 2-1 shootout win over Anaheim on Monday by improving to 3-0-1 in the young season.

Miller is off to a strong start after matching his career high with six shutouts last season, his first with the Canucks.

Jonathan Quick stopped 23 shots for struggling Los Angeles, which has been outscored 11-2 while losing three straight home games to open the season.

Costa Rica keeps Americans reeling

SOCCER: Tim Howard made his first appearance in goal for the United States in 15 months and was unable to stop the Americans’ slide.

Joel Campbell scored in the 70th minute, and Costa Rica beat the listless U.S. 1-0 in an exhibition in Harrison, New Jersey.

Three days after a 3-2 loss to Mexico in a playoff for the region’s Confederations Cup berth, the U.S. generated few scoring chances in the latest of a string of dismal performances this year that have led to criticism of coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who sent defender Fabian Johnson home for asking to be substituted late in Saturday’s defeat.

Olympics still possible: Marc Pelosi and Jordan Kiesewetter scored second-half goals and the United States beat Canada 2-0 in Sandy, Utah, to stay alive in CONCACAF qualifying for the Rio Olympics.

With the victory in the third-place game, the U.S. under-23 team advanced to a playoff match against Colombia for a spot in Rio.

Belgium No. 1: The Dutch charmed the world with their free-flowing Total Football during the 1970s. In 2015, they are just a Total Loss.

With a second straight home defeat, 3-2 to already-qualified Czech Republic, the Netherlands failed to reach the European Championship finals for the first time since 1984. And rubbing salt into that wound, neighbor and perennial rival Belgium moved top of the FIFA rankings and qualified as the Group B winner with a 3-1 victory over Israel.

“Let’s be chauvinists today,” Belgium captain Vincent Kompany said. “The Dutch have crashed out and we’re No. 1. Let’s just be proud.” While Belgium stars like Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard are heading up, Dutch veterans like Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder are heading in the other direction.

In this topsy-turvy world, be assured of one thing – always count on Italy. With two goals late in the game, the Azzurri came from behind to beat Norway 2-1, and offer qualification on a plate to Croatia, which went through on a lone Ivan Perisic goal in Malta. The Scandinavians now face the playoffs.

There was no such hardship for third-place Turkey in the Netherlands’ group. It beat Iceland 1-0 to take the automatic qualifying place for Euro 2016 as the best third-place finisher behind the Czech Republic and Iceland.

Joining Norway in Sunday’s playoff draw are Hungary, Ukraine, Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia. The two-legged series will be staged Nov. 12-14 and Nov. 15-17, with the four winners heading to France next year.

Federer falls in Shanghai opener

TENNIS: Roger Federer was upset in his opening match at the Shanghai Masters by Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3.

Pennetta falls in first: U.S. Open champion Flavia Pennetta lost in the first round of the Tianjin (China) Open, the top seed falling to Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine 6-3, 7-5.

Venus Williams wins in Hong Kong: Third-seeded Venus Williams rallied to beat Yuliya Beygelzimer of Ukraine 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the opening round of the Hong Kong Open despite wearing a bandage on her left thigh that seemed to hamper her movements. She came from a break down three times in the final set to close out the win in 2 hours, 13 minutes.