WASHINGTON -- After nine straight games of watching their opponents score first, the Washington Capitals jumped out to a four-goal lead on Saturday night.

Then it got interesting.

Center Evgeny Kuznetsov notched a goal and two assists, and the Capitals pulled away in the third period for a 7-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.

The Avalanche trailed 4-2 after two periods, but Kuznetsov provided some breathing room with a power-play goal that made it 5-2 early in the third period.

"We just got a little too fancy and sort of let them back in the game," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "We had the killer instinct in the third, but that could have been taken care of a little earlier."

Washington managed to go 5-3-1 over the stretch in which they always fell behind, but Trotz obviously prefers starts like Saturday's.

"That was a focus this morning: 'Let's get a lead,'" said Trotz, whose team is two games into a five-game homestand. "We wanted to have a better start. We want this building to be a tough place to play."

Right winger Justin Williams and left winger Alex Ovechkin also scored for Washington, as did defensemen John Carlson, Nate Schmidt, Dmitry Orlov and Karl Alzner.

"I think it's really vital to our success to have our D up on the play and getting production from our back end," Schmidt said. "I think it's something that moving forward is going to be a huge part of us getting two points every night."

Capitals left winger Jason Chimera added three assists. Braden Holtby made 24 saves.

Washington (13-5-1) rebounded from a loss to Dallas on Thursday and has yet to drop consecutive games.

Left winger Cody McLeod, center Nathan MacKinnon and left winger Andreas Martinson scored for Colorado (7-12-1), which has lost three straight.

Goalie Reto Berra was lifted after one period in favor of Calvin Pickard, who stopped 18 shots.

"Obviously for us to have a chance against a team like Washington we need to have a perfect night from our goaltender and we need to defend better," coach Patrick Roy said, noting that injured goalie Semyon Varlamov could return for Colorado's next game.

Washington scored on three of its first seven shots to put the Avalanche in an early hole.

Right after a Capitals power play ended, Williams made it 1-0 at the 3:05 mark when he beat Berra with a one-timer from the slot off a pass from behind the goal line by Chimera.

Just over four minutes later, center Nicklas Backstrom got the puck behind the net and fed to Ovechkin in the right circle. He scored his 10th of the season on a one-timer through the five-hole.

The Capitals weren't finished as Carlson's slapper from the point put the Capitals up 3-0 at the 10:00 mark and Schmidt capped the first-period scoring on a blast over Berra's shoulder with 43 seconds left.

"It's the worst start that you can possibly get," Martinsen said. "But, I think we managed a way to get up and get back, and we kind of made it a game again."

Pickard stopped all 11 Washington shots in the second period, including right winger T.J. Oshie's breakaway attempt.

Colorado got on the board after a Washington turnover in its own zone. McLeod finished off a pretty passing sequence when he sent a wrist shot past Holtby at 5:31.

Then, with 1:59 left in the period, MacKinnon scored his ninth of the season after a scramble in front during a power play.

"We just had to start with one, and then we got two in the second, and 4-2 going into the third is a different hockey game," Pickard said.

NOTES: Washington last notched a four-goal stanza on Jan. 25, 2014, in the second period at Montreal. ... Capitals LW Andre Burakovsky was a healthy scratch. LW Justin Williams moved up from the third to the second line with C Evgeny Kuznetsov and RW Marcus Johansson, while LW Stanislav Galiev moved into the lineup. ... Washington D Brooks Orpik (lower body) missed his fifth game. ... Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov (groin) and C John Mitchell (oblique) remain day-to-day. D Nate Guenin was a healthy scratch. ... Colorado completes its seven-game trip Monday at Winnipeg. ... The Capitals are 5-0 in Saturday games. ... The Avalanche entered the game second in the NHL in blocked shots, with 339.