St. Louis Blues: 5 Biggest Turkeys Of 2018-19 So Far

5. Jake Allen

Anyone that knows me or has read this space long enough knows that I’m one of, if not the biggest Jake Allen supporters. That said, even I cannot deny that this was not the start he needed to quiet his detractors.

What the clueless don’t understand is exactly what Doug Armstrong said at his press conference. You could have a Hall of Fame goaltender in net with the current Blues defense and the results would be the same. There has simply not been enough support. Nobody will stop all those breakaways and odd-man rushes.

Now, with all the defense of Allen out of the way, he does need to play better or at least more consistently. We have seen Allen keep the Blues in more games than they deserve, but there are also shots he needs to do better on.

For example, you cannot expect a goalie to stop all breakaways, but the shorthanded goal he allowed against Nashville on November 21 is one that a goaltender can save and one he needs to find a way to stop.

Right now, Allen is on the same path as his team. He plays well in some games and is just sort of there in others. That is shown by having eight quality starts in 15 attempts. That shows that he is playing well, even in some losses, since his record is under .500.

The problem is it’s all still inconsistent. Allen will play well in losses and then not as well in some of the wins.

Allen is not nearly as much to blame for the losses as the loud fans would have you believe. However, he is not currently part of the solution either.