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Guerin, Legace help Blues end Sharks' winning streak

Jan 21, 2007 - 7:45 AM SAN JOSE, California (Ticker) -- The surging St. Louis Blues finished their road trip on a great note, thanks to Bill Guerin and Manny Legace.

Guerin scored the only goal of the game and Legace made 31 saves as the Blues blanked the San Jose Sharks, 1-0.

St. Louis, which improved to 6-0-1 in its last seven games, finished its road trip with a 3-0-1 mark. The Blues also improved to 7-1-3 in their last 11 road contests.

"It means we've got 46 points and a tough game next Friday night against Detroit," St. Louis coach Andy Murray said. "Our guys are feeling good about themselves, and it was great to finish this game off tonight against certainly one of the hottest teams in the league of late."

The Sharks, who had their four-game win streak snapped, lost for only the second time in their last nine games.

"Yeah, I'm disappointed about tonight," San Jose coach Ron Wilson said. "You want to go into the (All-Star) break with a win. We could have gotten within two points (of Anaheim), and we got a couple of tough road games coming up. You don't want to start something negative, but, all in all, yeah, I am pleased with where we are this season."

Guerin reached the 20-goal plateau for the 10th time in his career late in the second period. The All-Star right wing picked up a loose puck along the left wing boards, circled behind the net and put in a backhander off goaltender Evgeni Nabokov with 84 seconds remaining in the session.

"The whole play, you know, I think everybody was yelling at me to shoot it, and I just came around the net and put it there," Guerin said. "Sometimes, funny things happen. I'll take it."

"To be honest, I didn't see well out of the net," Naboklov said. "A couple of guys were staying in the lane, and all I felt was it hit my pad."

Martin Rucinsky picked up an assist on Guerin's goal, which extended his points streak to five games, during which he has a goal and four assists.

Legace, who improved to 5-0-1 in his last six starts, made the tally stand, recording his fourth shutout of the season. The netminder made 13 saves in the first period, 11 in the second and seven in the third en route to his 16th career blanking.

"Manny's playing the way that I saw him play all last year for the Detroit Red Wings, when he had one of the best records in the National Hockey League," Murray said. "Usually, when you win in this league, your goalie is, if not your best player, certainly right up there, and he was tonight."

Nabokov faced just 13 shots, including only two in the final period, but fell to 1-4-0 in his last five starts.

San Jose's Joe Thornton and Jonathan Cheechoo, selected as starters for the Western Conference in Wednesday's All-Star Game, each had points streaks snapped. Thornton's three-game streak was ended while Cheechoo was blanked for the first time in eight games.

The Sharks, who entered with the league's top-ranked power play, went 0-for-3 with the extra skater while the Blues were denied in their two opportunities.

"You know, they played pretty well tonight defensively," San Jose right wing Mike Grier said. "We thought we controlled the game pretty much, but they did a good job of getting five guys around the puck."