Johnson rides a wave of shutouts into Game 5

ST. LOUIS -- A year ago, the St. Louis Blues decided to ride the ups and downs with goaltender Brent Johnson instead of shopping for a proven veteran as the final piece of a Stanley Cup contender.

Right now, it's all up.

Johnson is the first goalie in 57 years with three consecutive shutouts in the playoffs. He's the biggest reason the Blues are ready to eliminate the Chicago Blackhawks, leading 3-1 in the best-of-seven series heading into Game 5 tonight in St. Louis.

"I don't think we could have anticipated or even thought about it," coach Joel Quenneville said. "As it's evolved, it's been pretty remarkable. You're shutting down a pretty good offense each and every night."

The Blackhawks haven't scored since defenseman Alexander Karpovtsev got the game-winner with 3:10 to go in a 2-1 victory in Game 1. Since then, nothing. Johnson broke Curtis Joseph's team-record playoff shutout string in Game 4, and his count is at a remarkable 183 minutes, 10 seconds.

Only three other goalies in NHL history have had three straight playoff shutouts; the last was Toronto's Frank McCool in 1945 against the Detroit Red Wings.

Johnson has never before had three straight shutouts, at any level.

"Never, ever, ever," he said. "It's a good feeling. It's nice for me and it's nice for the team."

Johnson had 34 victories and five shutouts during the regular season. He seized the No. 1 job from Fred Brathwaite in midseason, starting 37 of the last 43 games -- most of them good but with a few clinkers thrown in.

He was in the nets for every game of a 10-game winning streak from Jan. 3 to Jan. 23, then gave up five goals three times the rest of the way -- twice to Detroit and once to Phoenix. General manager Larry Pleau hasn't shopped for a goaltender since the Blues lost out to the Red Wings for Dominik Hasek, and he's never wavered from his stay-the-course stance.

"We made it very clear," Pleau said. "We felt that Johnny was going to be our guy."

Johnson has been criticized for a so-so .902 save percentage in the regular season. Pleau said that's unfair because the Blues have one of the most stingy defenses in the NHL, allowing about 22 shots per game.

"If you're getting 35-40 shots a game, you'd better be stopping most of them or otherwise you're not playing," Pleau said. "But everybody just eats it up. I've watched it all year. That's the thing that bugged me more than anything else."

The Blackhawks aren't giving Johnson much respect, either.

"No sense making a big thing about that," coach Brian Sutter said. "He's not Glenn Hall or Turk Broda or some of those guys."

Forward Tony Amonte said Johnson is just along for the ride.

"It hasn't really been him, it's been his defense," Amonte said. "He's made some big saves, but I don't think he's been the difference in this series."

There's some truth to that, considering the Blackhawks were held to 12 shots in Game 3. Then again, Johnson made 27 stops in Game 4, helping his team survive a first period in which Chicago outshot the Blues 10-1.

"I don't think anyone ever doubted him and I know he didn't doubt himself," said Blues defenseman Bryce Salvador. "When Johnny plays well, it's going to go well for us."

Johnson said there's not a big feeling of vindication.

"I definitely think my performance needed to be a lot better," he said. "I'm just trying to step it up and keep this going for the team."

The biggest difference in Johnson's game during the shutout streak is patience.

"Last night he was letting the puck hit him," Pleau said. "He wasn't guessing, he wasn't jumping out and he wasn't going down. That takes a lot of time, though. That's going to come and go with his game."

The Blackhawks' offense is just plain gone, totaling two goals in four games. Chicago is 0-for-15 on the power play after missing on five chances in Game 4.

But they Blackhawks are not ready to concede.

"You've got to be mad, be ready to go to war with some fire in your eyes and your belly," Sutter said. "The toughest game to win is not the first one, not the seventh one, it's the fourth one when you've got three."