Brian Elliott Should Start In Goal Against Wild

According to an article on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s site today, St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock is leaning towards starting Brian Elliott during the first round of the playoffs beginning Thursday against the Minnesota Wild.

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While Jake Allen finished off four of the last six games of the regular season, riding what Hitchcock called his “hot hand,” Elliott’s performance against the Wild may have swayed Hitch’s decision. Allen won three of the four games, posting save percentages that varied between .944 and .974, allowing only four goals over those games, at only one goal per game both average-wise and in actuality.

Allen has developed a distinct goaltending style over the last year, somewhat reminiscent of Martin Brodeur’s in his mobility and his tendency to come further out of the cage in an effort to cut down on the opposition’s angles.

Elliott, however, has been great at defending the Blues’ net from a team on the rush, as Minnesota is wont to do.

Hitchcock told media as such, and stated that would factor heavily into his decision come game time.

Per the Post-Dispatch’s Jeremy Rutherford:

"“[Minnesota is] a rush-attack team. Their scoring chances on us this year, they’ve got a predominant amount of scoring chances off the rush. It’s really interesting. We’ve got way more than they do on the cycle and they’ve got way more than we do on the rush. That’s been the big difference. And Ells has had a heck of a year defending the rush.”"

Elliott is 1-2 against the Wild, and replaced Allen on one of those losses after Allen let in two goals out of only twelve shots. That was the most recent game Allen played against the Wild.

Elliott posted an average save percentage of .837 against Minnesota, which wasn’t stellar but is hardly his worst game. Absenting the game he replaced Allen from the list, Elliott suddenly has a save percentage of .881 against Minnesota, and allowed 5 goals on 44 shots. All the games Elliott has played against the Wild came after Minnesota’s renewed winning attitude they attained after acquiring Devan Dubnyk in net.

Elliott’s cool head and patience gives him enough time to react to a rushing team like Minnesota, and results more often than not in wins for St. Louis.

While Jake Allen’s performance has been excellent of late, fans saw earlier in the year that his verdant state in the NHL can also lead to up-and-down swings in performance. An even stronger reason for keeping Allen as second-string in at least the first round is his record against the Wild.

Nov 29, 2014; Saint Paul, MN, USA; St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen (34) makes a save on Minnesota Wild forward Mikael Granlund (64) during the second period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Allen has faced the Wild twice, once in November and once in March. Allen performed brilliantly against a slowly melting-down Wild in November, posting a .947 save percentage. However that performance was essentially against a different team. With the Wild back on the climb, Allen allowed two goals on only 12 shots and was pulled in favor of Elliott in the March game.

Hot hand in the past few weeks or not, the evidence says not only does Hitchcock not believe Allen is ready to take the postseason stage against the Minnesota Wild, but that fans shouldn’t either.

While I wholeheartedly believe that Allen would prove a better goalie against Chicago, should the Blues match up with them in the second round (Allen is 2-0 against Chicago while Elliott is a fairly blah 1-1, posting some of his lower save percentages), Elliott is the better choice to start against the Wild.

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