Karlsson scores first goal with Sharks in win against Blues

SAN JOSE -- Erik Karlsson scored his first goal with the San Jose Sharks and Aaron Dell made 30 saves in a 4-0 win against the St. Louis Blues at SAP Center on Saturday.

Joe Pavelski scored twice to extend his goal streak to four games, Evander Kane had a goal and an assist and Logan Couture had three assists for the Sharks (11-7-3).
"You always want to score goals," Karlsson said. "But at the end of the day in here, we've done a good job all year, winning games and that takes a lot of pressure off things. I'm not here to play an individual game. I'm here to win games and I think we've done a great job of that."
WATCH: [All Blues vs. Sharks highlights]
Dell, who started for the first time since a 4-0 loss at St. Louis on Nov. 9, got his first shutout of the season and fourth of his NHL career.
"I think that was probably the best all-around game we played this year," Dell said. "It really showed. We played on the defensive side of the puck, we were patient, we waited for our chances and with the skill we have, we were able to burry those and still come out with the win."

The Sharks had allowed at least four goals in four of their past five games, including a 5-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.
"I think the guys responded," Sharks coach Peter DeBoer said. "We have a smart group. I think they know. There wasn't a lot of messaging, it was just the facts of we were playing a little Russian roulette lately and losing."
Chad Johnson, who had a shutout against the Sharks in St. Louis, made 25 saves for the Blues (7-8-3), who were coming off a 4-1 road win against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday and playing for the third time in four days.
"It just seems like we take a step back a little bit, maybe get a little too high off last night's win," Johnson said. "It was a pretty emotional win last night and we had to come back and have that same sort of intensity, and I don't know if it was there or not."
The Sharks scored three goals in 4:11 during the second period to build a 3-0 lead.
Karlsson scored a power-play goal from the high slot at 1:42 when he beat Johnson with a slap shot to the upper left corner. Karlsson, who was acquired from the Ottawa Senators on Sept. 13, hadn't scored since March 27 of last season against the New York Islanders, a span of 23 games. He had 10 assists in his first 20 games with the Sharks.
"I've been feeling good all year; it just hasn't worked out on the score sheet," Karlsson said. "But sometimes that's the way it is. I don't think I'm doing anything different now."
Pavelski made it 2-0 at 6:31 from close range after Johnson made a save against forward Timo Meier. Kane extended San Jose's lead to 3-0 at 7:45 with a wrist shot.
Pavelski made it 4-0 at 11:59 of the third period when he took a pass from Couture and roofed a shot over Johnson for his 13th goal of the season.
The Blues outshot the Sharks 11-2 in the third.
"I think the one good thing was that we did show some push in the third period," Blues coach Mike Yeo said. "We obviously didn't grab a goal, but we had some good opportunities and if we could've got one or two, then who knows? But you can't come into a building like this against a team like this and put yourself in a hole like that."

They said it

"I think we got away from our game a little bit. We got a little hesitant and started watching a bit more. They got confident and came at us hard and we didn't do enough to counter that." -- Blues center Ryan O'Reilly
"We were kind of committed to a team game. We didn't give them a lot off the rush tonight, which is one of the things we were trying to do. That allowed us to turn over some pucks and get our speed up and play a little faster. Just trying to do the right things. I've been finding the pucks a little bit in some good areas, and it's been going in." -- Sharks forward Joe Pavelski

Need to know

The Blues were without four regulars because of upper-body injuries: defenseman Carl Gunnarsson and forwards Jaden Schwartz, Alexander Steen and Pat Maroon. ... Pavelski has six goals and three assists during his point streak. … Sharks forward Tomas Hertl (lower body) missed his second straight game. Forward Dylan Gambrell was recalled from San Jose of the American Hockey League.

What's next

Blues: Host the Los Angeles Kings on Monday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, FS-W, NHL.TV)
Sharks: Host the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NBCSCA, SNW, NHL.TV)