ST. LOUIS – San Jose Sharks coach Peter DeBoer does not believe there is a magic formula for teams to follow in order to have success on the road in the NHL.

What it takes, he said, is solid goaltending and good play on special teams.

"If you put those two things together most nights you're going to have success, regardless of where you're playing," DeBoer said.

The Sharks rode that game plan to another road win Thursday night, defeating the St. Louis Blues 3-1 behind another solid game from goalie Martin Jones, who stopped 26 of 27 St. Louis shots.

Left winger Joonas Donskoi and center Joe Thornton scored 3:20 apart in the second period, and the Sharks added a late goal from left winger Matt Nieto to improve to 17-7-2 away from home, where they are only 10-12-2.

The win improved the Sharks' overall record to 9-1-2 in their last 12 games, with their only regulation loss in the last month coming Tuesday night in Anaheim.

Jones was able to keep the game scoreless until the two quick goals from Dondkoi and Thornton, both of which came off assists from right winger Joe Pavelski. The two assists increased Pavelski's team-leading point total to 51 for the season.

"I love his game right now," DeBoer said of Jones. "I love the feeling he gives our team. The composure that he's playing with is contagious to our group. He's doing a good job for us."

Jones also appreciated the offensive support.

"Any time you get goal support that helps," Jones said. "You look at the stats, every single team in the league is the same. We're just a better team when you have the lead and you score first. Those were important goals for sure."

Donskoi scored the first goal when he was able to get past the Blues defense and flip a shot past goalie Brian Elliott, who had stopped 16 San Jose shots in the first period.

The goal came 3:55 into the second period, and the Sharks increased the lead to 2-0 at 7:15 of the period on the 10th goal of the year from Thornton, who had a 10-game point streak snapped on Tuesday night.

The Blues cut the lead to 2-1 at 16:54 of the second period on a goal from defenseman Jay Bouwmeester, which deflected off the leg of Sharks defenseman Paul Martin.

Jones was able to make the one-goal lead stand up until the goal from Nieto with 3:16 left in the game.

"We talk all the time going into the third with a lead about keeping our foot on the gas, staying on the forecheck," DeBoer said. "I think that the third goal from Nieto showed that. We were pushing for a goal as opposed to sitting back and accepting their rush coming at us."

Scoring goals has been a major problem of late for the Blues, who have been limited to a total of five goals in their last five games, going 2-2-1 over that stretch

"I don't think we have enough A (scoring) chances quite frankly," said Blues coach Ken Hitchcock. "What we're doing is not having success early enough and then getting off the page and trying to force plays that aren't there.

"We've got to get more grade A chances and stay with the program longer. If we do those things we will have success."

The lack of goals, at least in the opinion of right winger and team captain David Backes, is affecting the team's confidence.

"I don't think we need to be worried about it (the lack of offense) we just need to remedy it," Backes said. "Our lack of goal scoring, there's not a lot of that good feeling going around even though we've had some decent team success with limited goal scoring. There's not a lot of swagger where the next time it hits your stick you think it's going to the back of the net. We've got to get back to that."

NOTES: Thursday night's game was the first between the two Western Conference foes this season, leaving the Washington Capitals as the only team the Blues have not played this year. ... LW Jaden Schwartz, out since Oct. 20 because of a broken ankle, could return to the Blues' lineup on Saturday against the Wild. He has missed 47 games. ... RW Vladimir Tarasenko did not have a shot on goal in the Blues' game at Nashville on Tuesday, snapping a streak of 98 consecutive games with at least one shot on goal. ... The Blues still do not have a projection for when G Jake Allen will be able to play, but he has resumed skating on his own. He has been sidelined since Jan. 8 because of a lower-body injury. ... RW Mike Brown and D Matt Tennyson were healthy scratches for the Sharks. ... The Sharks, on a four-game trip, play in Nashville on Saturday night.