ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Low shot volume used to bother St. Louis Blues goalie Roman Turek. Not anymore.

Turek had another stingy game as his team topped 100 points for only the third time in franchise history with a 2-1 victory Monday night over the Washington Capitals.

	Jamal Mayers (2) and the Blues are one victory shy of tying the franchise record set in 1990-91. St. Louis is 46-17-9.

"They had nothing for two periods," Turek said. "The last period they tried to tie it and had some good scoring chances.

"Sometimes it's hard to play that kind of game, but now I feel comfortable with it. It's OK."

Defenseman Chris Pronger said it's comforting to know the Blues will have the 6-foot-3, 190-pound Turek in the nets in the postseason. Turek is in his first season as a starter after backing up Ed Belfour on the Stanley Cup champion Dallas Stars last season.

"Obviously, playoff series are won by goaltenders, and he's probably at the top of his game right now," Pronger said. "If he's not, we're in for a treat in the playoffs."

The Blues, who lead the NHL with 101 points and have a five-point advantage on the Detroit Red Wings, have 10 games to chase the franchise record of 107 set in 1980-81. The Blues (46-17-9) are one victory shy of tying the franchise record set in 1990-91, the season they had 105 points.

"We're pleased with our progress to date," coach Joel Quenneville said. "If you'd have said we would have 100 points at the start, we'd have gladly taken it."

Mike Eastwood and Michal Handzus scored for the Blues. Eastwood scored after only 16 seconds against Craig Billington for the Blues' fastest game-opening goal of the season.

Billington relieved Olaf Kolzig, who made 17 straight starts, and had 16 saves.

"I don't know many situations where there's a white picket fence, 2.2 kids and a golden retriever," Billington said. "That's just life, you have to battle and persevere."

Ken Klee scored for the Southeast Division-leading Capitals, who had a four-game winning streak snapped. Adam Oates set it up, giving him 10 assists in six games.

Washington is the NHL's best team in the new year at 26-7-5, while the Blues are second-best with a 24-6-5 mark.

"It's like looking at us, only they've done it for six months and we've done it for 3½," coach Ron Wilson said. "But if we'd played like we have for the last three months early in the season, we'd have as many points as them."

St. Louis stunned the Capitals with its quick opener, as Eastwood retrieved the puck in the corner and tapped the puck in from the side of the net off Billington's pads. The Blues connected on two of their first three shots, with Handzus converting a setup from behind the net by Lubos Bartecko at 9:54.

The Blues' "Slovak Pak" line of Pavol Demitra, Handzus and Bartecko has scored 68 points the last 28 games.

Klee cut the gap to a goal when he scored off a faceoff at 14:04 of the second.

The Blues are 32-0-2 when leading after two periods. They're the only unbeaten team in the NHL in that situation.