Allen’s 51-save night ‘amazing to watch’ for Blues
ST. PAUL, MINN.— Just three months ago, when the St. Louis Blues departed for a road trip, Jake Allen was left behind for a mental break.
These days, their 26-year-old goaltender better be at the top of the packing list.
With a career-high 51 saves, Allen carried the Blues on Wednesday night to a series-opening 2-1 overtime victory over the Minnesota Wild that ended three minutes into Thursday morning.
“He was unbelievable, save after save,” Blues defenceman Colton Parayko said. “He was amazing to watch, and it was fun for us to be a part of.”
The Blues were outshot by the Wild over the 77-plus minute game by a staggering 52-26.
“I’m not getting too excited over the saves I made or anything like that. It’s just a win.” JAKE ALLEN BLUES GOALIE
The only chance they had to stay close, let alone steal the Game 1 win, was going to lie with the goalie who was struggling badly enough in midJanuary that the Blues decided they were better off without him, and he without them, for a few days. That followed a particularly rough game against Washington on Jan. 19 when Allen was pulled twice while giving up four goals on 10 shots.
“It was three weeks for me that was real tough, but other than that I thought I had a really good year,” Allen said, adding: “I think we all should be proud, where we came from. We were completely out of the playoffs. We were down in the dumps.”
The change on the bench that initiated a teamwide turnaround, when Ken Hitchcock was fired and replaced early by coach-in-waiting Mike Yeo, came on Feb. 1. Allen has played in the net like a different person since then, with the best goalsagainst average (1.85) and save percentage (.938) in the NHL over the 32-game balance of the season. He won 11 of his last 15 starts before the playoffs, giving up a total of only 26 goals.
Allen’s performance against the Wild was next level, though.
“I’m not getting too excited over the saves I made or anything like that. It’s just a win,” Allen said on Thursday after a light practice as both teams tuned up for Game 2 on Friday. “We still have a long way to go, and we can’t get too far ahead of ourselves.”
Yeo took his place behind the podium after the game, fully expectant that the first question would be about Allen. He still found himself at a bit of a loss for the right words to describe what he saw.
“Phenomenal performance,” Yeo said. “That’s all you can say against a team that really challenges you, not only the quality scoring chances, but the pressure at the net. The way he controlled situations, shots, rebounds, the puck, it was a real obviously impressive performance.”
Signed to a four-year, $17.4 million contract extension that will kick in next season, Allen became the primary netminder last summer when the Blues traded Brian Elliott to Calgary.