He strike came just two minutes after he replaced Leon McKenzie - scorer of the first Norwich goal seven minutes after the break.
This was cancelled out in the 58th minute by Paul Gallagher's free-kick.
Robert Green showed why he is part of the England international set-up with a brilliant reflex save to keep out a Sammy Bangoura header seconds before the Canaries came up with the winning goal.
This still did not satisfy a small group of Norwich fans calling for Nigel Worthington to be replaced in spite of the exciting finale to an otherwise fairly uneventful game.
Stoke kicked off attacking the River End goal.
McKenzie and Paul McVeigh made a lively start for the Canaries but the home side failed to make the most of a positive start.
This allowed the Potters into the game and they had more shots in the first half than the Canaries.
McVeigh had a chance for a long-range shot with the Stoke keeper out of position, but his effort was deflected for a corner off a defender's head.
The home fans became increasingly agitated as the visitors finished the first half looking the stronger side.
However, McKenzie gave Norwich the lead seven minutes into the second half when he played a one-two with McVeigh, created space on the edge of the Stoke penalty area and found the inside of Steve Simonsen's left-hand post with a low shot from 17 yards.
The referee threw Stoke a lifeline when he awarded a free-kick just outside the Norwich penalty area for an alleged offence by Gary Doherty.
This gave Gallagher a chance which he took in fine style. Green got a hand to his low right-foot drive but it still found a net off the inside of the keeper's left-hand post.
Darren Huckerby forced a save from Simonsen with a low shot and Robert Earnshaw could only find the side netting when he latched on to the loose ball.
Marlon Broomes was booked for a foul on McKenzie but Simon Charlton hit the resulting free-kick at the Stoke keeper.
Simonsen did well to tip over McVeigh's shot as the home side pressed for the decisive goal.
Green did even better but to block Bangoura's point blank header with substitute Dickson Etuhu heading the ball away from the danger area.
Almost immediately McVeigh released Johansson who calmly slotted home from eight yards with a right-foot shot that found the inside of Simonsen's left-hand post.