Blues’ Johnson Blanks Capitals, 2-0

Brent Johnson is proving he belongs in the NHL.

The rookie goalie stopped 30 shots Thursday night as the St. Louis Blues defeated the Washington Capitals, 2-0, at St. Louis, extending the Blues’ winning streak to seven games.

“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 games. He has won all five of his starts this season and has given up 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.

The Capitals outshot the Blues, 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,” St. Louis 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.

Nashville 3, Philadelphia 1--Cliff Ronning and Robert Valicevic scored in a 2:20 span of the first period at Philadelphia to help the Predators to their first victory over the Flyers in five games.

Vitali Yachmenev added an empty-net goal with 12.7 seconds to play for the Predators, who had been 0-3-1 against the Flyers since joining the NHL in 1999. Nashville also ended a five-game (0-2-2-1) winless streak.

Ottawa 6, New York Rangers 5--Magnus Arvedson and Igor Kravchuk scored 33 seconds apart in the third period to lift the Senators at Kanata, Canada.

The goals gave Ottawa a two-goal lead with 4:24 to play, but the advantage was cut to 6-5 when Petr Nedved got one back for New York with 2:56 remaining.

Boston 5, Chicago 4--Mikko Eloranta scored with 1:29 to play and Jason Allison had two goals and two assists at Boston.

Toronto 5, New Jersey 3--Jonas Hoglund scored two goals in the third period to lead the Maple Leafs at Toronto.

The game was the first between the teams since the Devils eliminated the Maple Leafs from the playoffs with a 3-0 victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals en route to the Stanley Cup title. Toronto managed an NHL record-low six shots in that game.

Around the League

Colorado Avalanche right wing Adam Deadmarsh will be sidelined indefinitely and center Chris Drury will be sidelined six to eight weeks after they suffered injuries in Wednesday night’s 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. Drury apparently suffered a sprained left knee in a collision with Vancouver’s Matt Cooke. The Avalanche said Deadmarsh suffered a concussion when Vancouver defenseman Ed Jovanovski hit him during a fight. Deadmarsh crumpled to the ice and looked groggy as teammates helped him to the dressing room. He did not return to the game. . . . Forward Darcy Tucker of the Toronto Maple Leaf signed a four-year, $5.3-million contract extension. . . . Goalie Tommy Salo of the Edmonton Oiler signed a three-year, $10.4-million contract extension. . . . The NHL plans to file a grievance over a work-stoppage clause in Owen Nolan’s contract with the San Jose Sharks. NHL executive vice president Bill Daly sent a letter to the players’ association stating the league’s intentions to challenge the clause that gives Nolan an extra year if a labor dispute limits him to fewer than 40 games in 2004-05.