St. Louis Blues to Start Jake Allen in Game 4 vs. San Jose Sharks
After the Blues were shut out in Games 2 and 3 of the Western Conference Finals, Ken Hitchcock will hope that a goaltending change can energize his team.
After a 3-0 loss in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals that led to St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock benching goalie Brian Elliott for backup Jake Allen after 46 minutes, it was assumed by many that Hitchcock would switch to Allen for Game 4.
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That change was confirmed early on Friday evening, as the veteran coach confirmed his plans to give the 25-year-old Allen his first start of this postseason.
Allen started just 12 games after returning from a sprained knee that he sustained on January 8 at Anaheim, and he was pulled from two of those games for Pheonix Copley and Anders Nilsson, respectively. Of those games, Allen only had three starts that would be considered “exceptional” by most: a 32-save effort in a February 28 win at Carolina, a 33-save gem and a composed shootout performance on March 9 against Chicago, and a 32-save shootout on March 26 at Washington. He hasn’t started a game since April 3, a win over Colorado that he exited after the first period with a lower-body injury.
Last postseason, Allen got the late edge as the Blues’ playoff goalie and started all six games of the Blues’ first-round series loss to the Minnesota Wild. He struggled for most of the series, and while he posted a decent 2.20 GAA and .904 save percentage, his offense didn’t do too much to help him out.
Next: Can Blues Return to Normal After Game 3 Disaster?
Elliott heads to the bench as the player who has been most important to the Blues’ playoff success thus far. The 31-year-old has a .925 save percentage, a 2.34 GAA, and one shutout through 17 games this postseason. He has nearly 100 more saves than the goaltender with the next-highest total (San Jose’s Martin Jones, who has 383 saves compared to Elliott’s 481) this postseason, and usually when the Blues have won, Elliott’s been their best player. With that said, he only stopped 11 of the shots San Jose took against him last night, so he’s not totally faultless in the whole matter.