Some of Erik Johnson's best hockey this season came right before the defenseman scored an overtime winner for the St. Louis Blues.
Facing Sidney Crosby and the talented Pittsburgh Penguins certainly brought out the best in Johnson, the No. 1 overall pick in 2006.
Johnson scored 50 seconds into overtime, Jaroslav Halak made 31 saves and the Blues beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 1-0 on Saturday night for their 10th straight home victory. In nine of those wins, the Blues have held the opposition to two goals or fewer.
Johnson scored his first goal of the season and it came after T.J. Oshie stripped the Penguins' Paul Martin of the puck in the corner. Oshie fed Johnson in the slot and the defenseman beat goalie Brent Johnson.
I kind of found my stride offensively in the zone and it's just hopefully a springboard for me and the team,'' Erik Johnson said. ''Hopefully we can put a streak here together and hopefully I can continue to contribute. It feels good to get the monkey off my back. ''I just cycled down the wall and went to the net, called for it from Oshie. He made a great play right on my tape and I just tried to get it through the defender there (Kris Letang) and it found its way through Brent Johnson. It was a great hockey play by Oshie.''
Brent Johnson stopped 23 shots for the Penguins. He lost for the first time in five games this season. He said the overtime goal happened so fast, it was tough to react to.
''It was just one of those plays that the forechecking just pinned us down in our zone for a little while,'' Brent Johnson said. ''I think they just moved it down to the guy coming from the top. I went out to challenge and I think it hit our (defenseman) and it went through my legs.''
The Blues are 4-0 at home this season after winning their final six last season. The Blues, after beating the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 Friday night, won on consecutive nights against the last two Stanley Cup champions.
''We're not a team that's going to be all hyped up because we beat two of the better teams in the league,'' Blues defenseman Barret Jackman said. ''We have to take the approach with every team that we play that we're just as good or better. If the opposition wants to think of us as the underdog, that's good for us. We'll go through the whole year being the underdog and keep improving ourselves.''
The Blues had the best chance in the first period, but Brad Boyes couldn't convert on the doorstep with a bouncing puck. The Blues' Jay McClement also missed a chance to scored in the second period when he rushed in along the right side on a short-handed breakaway. McClement's wrister sailed high over the net with 4:32 left in the period, a period in which the Penguins outshot the Blues 19-7.
''In the second, I thought we outplayed them and generated a lot of chances,'' Crosby said. ''In the third, it was kind of 50-50. Both teams had their fair share of chances. Unfortunately for us, they got the winner in overtime.''
Crosby had a chance in the third period on the Penguins' fourth power play, but his snap shot from the right circle popped off the outside of the goal post with 9:34 left.
Other than the shot off the post, Halak was there to frustrate the Penguins once again.
''You still need to be aware of their guys because they got skill guys and they can score any time when they get a chance,'' said Halak, who improved to 4-1-1 on the season. ''It's been fun so far, but we've got plenty of games left to keep on the same pace.''
