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Thursday, Nov. 2 8:00pm ET
Johnson stops 16 shots in third | |||||
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ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Brent Johnson is proving he belongs in the NHL. The rookie goalie stopped 30 shots as St. Louis beat the Washington Capitals 2-0 Thursday night, extending the Blues' winning streak to seven. "I still can't believe I'm here and to be undefeated is a bonus," Johnson said. The shutout is Johnson's second -- both this season -- in 11 career games. He has won all five of his starts this season and has allowed three goals in three starts at Savvis Center. "It's a real great feeling to go out there and get a 30-save shutout and it's like a dream world right now," Johnson said. St. Louis is 10-2-1 this season, tying the best start in franchise history set in the 1997-98 season. Washington outshot St. Louis 16-8 in the third period but could not beat Johnson. He made several sprawling saves to preserve the shutout. "Johnson gave us a great effort and he's the reason why we won," Blues coach Joel Quenneville said. "They threw a lot of pucks at him and he was big." Washington goalie Olaf Kolzig, last year's Vezina Trophy winner, was also impressed with Johnson. "He made some unbelievable saves and he looks like he's going to be a good one," Kolzig said. St. Louis took the lead at 5:31 of the second period when Pavol Demitra banged home a rebound of Dallas Drake's shot. Kolzig was out of position as he stopped Drake's shot and Demitra slid the puck past him for his fifth goal this season. "I thought I got there in time, I don't know how he got it, but he did," Kolzig said. Washington, which outshot St. Louis 30-26, is winless in eight road games. It is the third time the Blues have been outshot this season. The Capitals failed to convert on five power-play opportunities. The Blues have killed off 23 of their last 24 penalties. The first period was scoreless mostly due to Washington's inability to capitalize on four man-advantage situations. The Capitals' best chance came when Sergei Gonchar hit the goal post from just inside the blue line. "We had a lot of chances in the first period and the game could've went either way, unfortunately we couldn't score," Gonchar said. Scott Young scored his 13th goal of the season, an empty-netter, with 24 seconds left. Game notesSt. Louis has not lost to Washington at home since the 1996-97 season, a four-game stretch. ... The Blues lead the NHL in penalty killing at home, killing 34 of 35 short-handed opportunities. ... Washington has killed off 18 consecutive penalties. ... Washington has not scored first on the road and has been outscored 9-1 in the first period. ... St. Louis is the most penalized team in the NHL with 298 minutes. ... Drake's assist was his 200th career NHL point. ... Johnson's other shutout was Oct. 13 against expansion Minnesota. | ALSO SEE NHL Scoreboard Washington Clubhouse St. Louis Clubhouse RECAPS Ottawa 6 NY Rangers 5
St. Louis 2 AUDIO/VIDEO   Pavol Demitra scores on the wraparound.avi: 449 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||