ST. LOUIS (Ticker) -- The return of Scott Mellanby moved Pavol Demitra back to center, but it didn't stop him from extending his points streak.
Demitra set up Mellanby's power-play goal with three seconds left in the first period and Brent Johnson made it stand as the St. Louis Blues posted a 1-0 blanking of the Nashville Predators, who have lost four straight.
Mellanby missed the first seven games of the season due to a rib injury and St. Louis coach Joel Quenneville moved Demitra to right wing, a position he had not played in more than two years. Demitra responded with seven points in four games and did not waste much time keeping the streak going at his old position.
One minute after Nashville defenseman Jason York was penalized for tripping, Demitra threaded a backhanded pass from behind the net to Mellanby, who slipped the puck between the pads of goaltender Tomas Vokoun.
"Pavol's shot went through and then the puck came back in front and dropped at my feet," Mellanby said. "It's a good thing, too, because we weren't getting anything through against him."
Vokoun made 17 saves and said the game might have remained scoreless if he was able to see the puck.
"(Mellanby) was right on top of me and I couldn't do anything," Vokoun said. "There was a battle with Doug Weight and our defenseman got stuck in front of the net. You can't see where the puck is."
"We sent one last rush up ice, got a good bounce when we needed it, and some nights that's what it all comes down too," Quenneville said. "Scott always seems to be there when we need something."
Johnson made 26 saves, looking much sharper in his second start of the season. He entered with a 5.26 goals-against average after allowing three goals in an October 21 win at Edmonton.
Johnson denied the Predators on several point-blank attempts. Midway through the second period, he stuck out his left leg to stop an odd-man chance by David Legwand.
"I got great help tonight from the entire defense," Johnson said. "They pressured their forwards a lot, especially in the third period, and (Chris) Pronger and (Jeff) Finley were solid against the odd-man rush."
Nashville defeated St. Louis, 4-1, on October 16 but has dropped four of five games since while the Blues have won four or five.
Johnson recorded his 12th career shutout and first since December 23 against Los Angeles. In the final minutes of the second, he robbed Legwand, rookie Jordin Tootoo, Scott Walker and defenseman Marek Zidlicky.
Johnson also had some help from Weight, who swept Zidlicky's attempt away from the goal line with 44 seconds remaining.
"I saw the puck into my pads and that was it," Johnson said. "The next thing I knew, it was out and the play was on again."
The Predators have scored just 12 goals during their skid, although they were blanked for the first time this season. Unlike their previous three defeats, they were competitive.
"We have not had a lot of success in this building and tonight we did a lot of good things," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "Unfortunately, we didn't get the win and it's a little bit of a moral victory. But moral victories aren't going to get us into the playoffs."
St. Louis has won its last seven home meetings with the Predators and 11 of 14 at the Savvis Center.
