Blues drop Sharks in shootout

~ St. Louis won 2-1 late Friday night.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Jason Bacashihua came within one shot of his first NHL shutout. He'll have to settle for his second win.

Petr Cajanek scored the winning goal in the first extra round of the shootout to give the St. Louis Blues a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Friday night.

"I just tried to be calm," Cajanek said. "I was lucky to score. I saw him standing there and took a chance."

Blues center Doug Weight and Sharks winger Jonathan Cheechoo scored in the regulation round of the tiebreaker, setting up Cajanek's winning try. Nils Ekman was then unable to force a fifth round for the Sharks.

Ekman did tie it earlier by scoring with just over a minute remaining in regulation. Mark Smith won the puck behind the net and sent a pass to Ekman, who beat Bacashihua, appearing in his fifth game since being recalled from Peoria of the AHL on Dec. 12.

"I didn't look at the clock until after they scored," Bacashihua said with a smile. "I saw there was 1:04 on the clock and all I could do is shake my head. It was a bang-bang play and they did a good job."

Ryan Johnson scored a short-handed goal midway through the third period to give the Blues a 1-0 lead.

The Blues won on the road for the second time in three games after winning twice in their first 12.

Bacashihua stopped the first 21 shots he faced after giving up three goals in 13 shots during a 6-3 loss to Anaheim on Wednesday.

"We played a perfect team game," Cajanek said. "[Bacashihua] was unbelievable. He played great."

Bryce Salvador set up the first goal when he stole the puck off Joe Thornton's stick and cleared it down the right side. Jamal Mayers picked up a pass and centered the puck for Johnson, who beat Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov with a wrist shot from the top of the crease.

"We came out and played our game," Bacashihua said. "We kept chipping away and finally got it."