Blues' Johnson blanks Sharks for 32-save shutout

ST. LOUIS (AP) Chad Johnson made 32 saves for his first shutout with St. Louis, helping the Blues beat the San Jose Sharks 4-0 on Friday night.

Alex Pietrangelo, Ryan O'Reilly, Jaden Schwartz, and Alexander Steen scored. The Blues have won four of five games after winning just two of their first eight to start the season.

Johnson started just his third game of the season, but his second straight. He improved to 2-2-0 with his first shutout since November 2016 with the Calgary Flames.

Pietrangelo roofed a shot past goalie Aaron Dell with both teams down a man to open the scoring in the first period. Dell allowed four goals on 30 shots to fall to 1-2-2.

San Jose lost its second consecutive game and was shutout for the second time this season.

In the second period, O'Reilly buried a feed from Jaden Schwartz for his team-leading eighth goal of the season to give him points in a career-best nine consecutive games. He is the first St. Louis player to register a nine-game point streak in his first season with the team since Doug Weight accomplished the feat Oct. 4-25, 2001.

Later in the second, Schwartz snapped a four-game scoring drought when he beat Dell on a pass from Tyler Bozak for his second goal of the season.

Steen scored his fourth of the season 12:21 into the third period to push the St. Louis lead to 4-0.

NOTES:

Blues RW Vladimir Tarasenko extended his points streak to a season-best six games (four goals, four assists). ... LW Nikita Soshnikov made his season debut after being sidelined with post-concussion syndrome to start the season. ... San Jose has allowed at least three goals in nine consecutive games. ... Sharks D Brent Burns played in 406th consecutive game, the longest streak among active players.

UP NEXT:

Sharks: Host Calgary on Sunday to open a six-game homestand

Blues: Host Minnesota on Sunday.

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