Martin Brodeur Will Make St. Louis Blues Debut Against Nashville Predators
Following a shaky performance by St. Louis Blues rookie goaltender Jake Allen which saw him give up three goals in the space of less than five minutes in the third period of the team’s Wednesday loss to the Chicago Blackhawks, 42-year-old goalie Martin Brodeur will make his Blues debut on Thursday night against the Nashville Predators.
It was a bit surprising that coach Ken Hitchcock didn’t decide to pull Allen and get Brodeur’s feet wet during the midst of Allen’s struggles on Wednesday. But with Brodeur ready to get between the pipes on Thursday night, it will be the first time that he has ever played in a game for a team other than the New Jersey Devils in his 21-year NHL career. Wednesday’s game was the first time that the anticipated future Hall-of-Famer even wore the uniform of another team.
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It’s important that the Blues don’t jeopardize Allen’s confidence, as they expect him to be one of their options in goal for years to come. With that said, it might not be the worst idea in the world to give Brodeur two straight games in net. The Blues face the New York Islanders on Saturday night, and Brodeur is 51-28-9 with a .912 save percentage and 2.22 goals against average in 90 career games against them. Meanwhile, Allen has never faced the Islanders.
Brodeur officially signed with the Blues on Tuesday after joining the team for practice last week. He’s filling the gap left when starting goaltender Brian Elliott went down with a lower-body injury, which is expected to sideline him for at least a month.