Johnson makes 33 saves, Blues shut out Sharks

ST. LOUIS --Chad Johnson made 33 saves for the St. Louis Blues in a 4-0 win against the San Jose Sharks at Enterprise Center on Friday.

It was Johnson's eighth NHL shutout, first since Nov. 30, 2016, for the Calgary Flames against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"I don't really think about being locked in or on," Johnson said. "… I just try to feel the same way or not feel at all. You just go out there. You work hard. You're focused in the moment. What happens at the end of the day is the result that you get from your preparation. I felt I've been ready to go here and felt good with my preparation throughout the game. I'm just happy with getting the two points."
WATCH: [All Sharks vs. Blues highlights]
In his past two starts, Johnson has allowed one goal on 72 shots, made 58 straight saves and has a 0.50 goals-against average and .986 save percentage.
"Chad was good; you're not going to have a game where you don't give up scoring chances, especially against a team like that," St. Louis coach Mike Yeo said. "You're going to give up some stuff, and I thought he was strong. I thought they slung a lot of pucks at the net and I thought he did a good job of controlling rebounds, steering them away."

Jaden Schwartz and Alexander Steen each had a goal and an assist, and Tyler Bozak had two assists for the Blues (6-5-3), who have won four of their past five games.
Yeo said it was one of their more complete games this season.
"We've seen it in glimpses," Yeo said. "It's been coming along and we want it to come quicker, but definitely one of our better 60-minute performances. But obviously, now we have to build off of that."
Aaron Dell made 27 saves for the Sharks (8-6-3), who have lost back-to-back games for the first time this season and were shut out for the second time.
"The last two games haven't been good," San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said. "We're not going to make more out of it than it is. We were playing some pretty good hockey up until the last two games. I think we were [6-1-2 the previous nine games] or something like that. We've got to get it figured out. I think yesterday (a 4-3 loss at the Dallas Stars) we were reckless, but we had energy. Today, we were reckless without energy. We've got to fix all those things."

Ryan O'Reilly scored at 5:28 of the second period to extend his NHL career-high point streak to nine games and give the Blues a 2-0 lead.
Schwartz made it 3-0 at 13:57 when he beat Dell from the top of the crease off a pass from Bozak.
Prior to the goal, the Blues had 1:01 of consecutive zone time that included three failed clearing attempts by the Sharks before Justin Braun was called for icing at 13:40.
"When you have four lines that can play in all situations, it's difficult to deal with," said St. Louis captain Alex Pietrangelo, who scored at 4-on-4 at 14:50 of the first period to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. "... It's just hard work. When you're using everybody in every situation, it seems like we're going to have a little bit more jump like we did tonight."
Steen scored at 12:21 of the third period for the 4-0 final score.

They said it

"We never really got going. We never found our game from the other night. Last game, we did a lot of things uncharacteristically. We're a better team than what we've shown the last two games. Just the simple breakdowns, the getting out of the system, we see what happens. It can cost you." -- Sharks captain Joe Pavelski
"I thought it was definitely a step in the right direction. [Goalie Chad Johnson] made some big stops for us, timely stops. I know he made some look easy, but there were some big saves he made tonight." -- Blues forward Alexander Steen

Need to know

Sharks forward Tomas Hertl (concussion) missed his third straight game. ... San Jose defenseman Tim Heed made his season debut, replacing Joakim Ryan in the lineup. ... Sharks center Joe Thornton remained at 399 NHL goals and one point behind Mario Lemieux for 11th in NHL history (1,033). ... O'Reilly has 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) during his point streak and is the first Blues player since Doug Weight to have a nine-game point streak in his first season with them. Weight had at least one point in nine straight games to start the 2001-02 season. ... Steen's 462 points are sixth in Blues history. He passed David Backes (460) with an assist on O'Reilly's goal. ... St. Louis center Brayden Schenn (oblique strain) missed his second straight game.

What's next

Sharks: Host the Calgary Flames on Sunday (9 p.m. ET; SN360, NBCSCA, NHL.TV)
Blues: Host the Minnesota Wild on Sunday (3 p.m. ET; SN1, FS-MW, FS-N, FS-WI, NHL.TV)