The Blues have not played particularly well in this series. Martin Jones shut out St. Louis in back-to-back games and even the Blues’ lone win in game one was one St. Louis felt a bit lucky to secure. Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock is looking to shake things up in the Western Conference Finals, a series in which the Blues have scored two goals, by changing goaltenders.
Wait, what?
So yeah, Brian Elliott’s .899 save percentage isn’t going to get him into Conn Smyth consideration, but it would be absolutely wrong to hang the Sharks‘ back-to-back wins on him. You know, those two games in which the Blues didn’t score a freaking goal. Hitchcock turns to Jake Allen now, who split time in goal with Elliott this season. In 47 regular season games, Allen posted an even-strength save percentage of .928 while Elliott posted a .938 in 42 contests.
Elliott has started all 17 games for the Blues this season, but Allen has faced nine shots in two games in relief duty. Elliott’s even strength save percentage of .936 puts him sixth in the playoffs among the 14 goalies who have played at least 200 minutes.
There’s every possibility Allen comes in and plays better than Elliott, but this seems like a panic move — and it’s one the numbers don’t back up. Now we’ll see if the Sharks can take advantage.
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