Jake Allen

[Blanick]

So are we just going to ignore how bad Jake Allen has been most of this year. He is currently sitting at .907 SV% and has given up 3 goals tonight on 24 shots. Two of which have been horrible. I feel like our teams hot start has masked it a bit and it is not just "slow start" or "bad stretch." Outside of few random games this year his play has been pretty poor IMO with some of the same issues from last year creeping in. It seems that without Brodeur holding his hand he just can't string together any long term consistent play. Maybe he just doesn't have the mental toughness to be a NHL starter.

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[TruBlu]

He's actually better than average if you reduce the list to starting goalies with 20 games played. Going by past indicators of save percentage and ga% will make it look worse, but, across the board scoring is up in the league. Is he playing great, no, but the team in front of him has shit the bed in many games this year. In one of the post game interviews in the last few games yeo called out the team defense by saying they were allowing uncharacteristic amounts of odd man breaks, breakaways, etc. Let's let the team get a half season in before we decide Jake is falling down the rabbit hole.

 

[Mike Liut]

Jake makes great saves on a nightly basis, but man, he is just brutal at tracking the puck through traffic.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Jake makes great saves on a nightly basis, but man, he is just brutal at tracking the puck through traffic.

Sounds like our Defenders need to clear the enemy players out of the way then.

 

[carter333167]

Jake needs to get hot in Feb-March. I just don't think he's the type of goaltender who can maintain a really high level throughout the year.

In sum, though, I agree. He hasn't been nearly as good as he was during the second half last year.

 

[TheDizee]

hes playing like a turd but idc how he plays now, only matters from april on.

im more worried about our terrible special teams right now

 

[Falco Lombardi]

I’m far more concerned with the special teams in front of him.

I think the stats are a bit misleading as scoring is up league wide.

 

[Dbrownss]

I’m far more concerned with the special teams in front of him.

I think the stats are a bit misleading as scoring is up league wide.

He hasn't been great but it seems like he's given up more goals when the Blues flat out destroy a team and limit shots but let high danger chances through and they score on them. Which would tank his SV%. I cant think of any games where Jake shit the bed and lost them the game except that Calgary game.

 

[Majorityof1]

Jake has been downright bad recently and anyone who says otherwise is making excuses. Could the defense be playing better? Yes. Could we be giving more goal support? Yes. Is scoring up league wide? Yes. But none of that matters. Jake is also playing poorly.

League-wide GAA avg is 2.95
Jake's is 2.75.

So he is doing better than average. However, Blues don't give up a lot of shots, nor high danger chances. Jakes save percentage is actually below league average.

LW S% is .907
Jake's is .906

So not bad, he's about average right. However, that is based on a decent start. He wasn't bad all year, he has been bad lately. Let's look at his stats over the last 10.

Games Played: 10, Gms Start: 9, minutes: 520.667; GA: 33; Shots Against: 248
GAA: 3.80, S%: .867

That is awful, and its not a 3 game stretch or 4 game, its 10 games, 1/6 of the games he will play. I'm not saying this to trash him or say we need to dump him. But we need to accept the fact he is struggling. He is letting up bad rebounds, over-committing, leaving the short-side open again. He absolutely cannot track the puck through traffic. You can't clear the crease like you used to be able to anymore. We can do a better job of it, but he still has to do beter at picking it up or being in position to get lucky.

We should be thinking about letting him get some rest, letting Hutton play more, and sending Marty down for a chat or two with Jake. We need his head on straight if we are going to go anywhere come playoff time. He is very streaky. If he's on, he is one of the best goalies in the league. If he's not, he's one of the worst. We can't win if he is off.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Yes, he's struggled, but he's also been hung out to dry a lot. They should've won that Edmonton game 8-1, but instead the team decided to coast (In addition to the Leafs game that doesn't fall in his last game, where they were up 6-2 and coasted for 2 more goals against). In his last 10 games, he's been in net for 7PP and 2SH goals against, so if there were better special teams in front of him, it wouldn't look quite as bad.

He's no where near as bad as last year's meltdown, but has still been sub par compared to expectations.

 

[Captain Creampuff]

Jake makes great saves on a nightly basis, but man, he is just brutal at tracking the puck through traffic.

Makes great saves on a nightly basis because he constantly puts himself in position for those saves to be made which is why half of the goals he gives up are on a wide open net.

 

[shpongle falls]

Allen could be better from a statistical point of view no doubt, but he's also played well enough to help give the Blues the good record they have at this point. He's stats aren't a huge concern for me and he showed us last year he has the ability to elevate his game when it really matters.

 

[DoubleK81]

He has a sub .900 save pct in 11/23 games. And we're not talking .899 here, we're dealing .880 and lower. We did manage to win a majority of those games, but those #'s are just awful. You can't have a winning team in the long term, when your goalie is putting up those #'s

 

[LetsGoBooze]

He has a sub .900 save pct in 11/23 games. And we're not talking .899 here, we're dealing .880 and lower. We did manage to win a majority of those games, but those #'s are just awful. You can't have a winning team in the long term, when your goalie is putting up those #'s

Just play Hutton on November 23rd games every year, problem solved

 

[CitizenSnips]

Makes great saves on a nightly basis because he constantly puts himself in position for those saves to be made which is why half of the goals he gives up are on a wide open net.

This has been my problem with him throughout his career. I think he is an above average goalie and when he puts it all together, he is VERY GOOD. I find him to be weak minded and if he is at all in his head, it seems as though he lets in weak goals. His rebound control is atrocious and it seems like he is always looking to bounce around the crease.

All this said, when we are playing poorly in front of him, he will look like a sieve. If we play strong in front of him, he shines (i.e. Minny playoffs last year). All-in-all, I like him and will hold out to see how he plays from March on but I agree with the OP that he has been very below average this year and it has me concerned for sure. I am glad this came up because its something I was afraid to talk about with anyone until the past few games. It seemed like it was just going to be an unspoken subject

 

[Falco Lombardi]

For years there was debate on Elliott’s play in the playoffs vs the Kings on how good the numbers were vs how crippling the goals he did allow were (Penner on the last second, Voynov in OT) and it’s almosf the reverse here.

When the Blues need a save, more times than not, Allen has made it. Are the overall numbers good? Not really but aside from the goal Kris Versteeg scored a few weeks back, I wouldn’t say he’s costing the team. He’s giving them timely goaltending, if not good goaltending.

 

[TruBlu]

I mean, the numbers are right there for everyone to see...They are average. He's 16th in sv% when you look at starting goalies with 20 games played. He's 11th in goals allowed percentage. Half of the teams in the league would be ecstatic to get him. There are many reasons why his numbers aren't the best. I'd rather debate special teams. That will be what sinks the team in the playoffs if it isn't fixed.

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

Allen has been okay to good most of the year. Our PK has sucked all year, and our defense has been really bad lately. Outside of that, Jake has played well most of the time. He is making some mistakes recently that when compounded with the defense have really been taking his numbers down.

Fix the PK and Jake would be well above league average. Then fix the over-committing to point shots, and the head ducking, and we have a goalie that would be competing for the Vezina.

Jake will get hot again once the PK settles in.

 

[carter333167]

Put it this way....the Montreal fans largely acknowledged that they were significantly outplayed by the Blues but that they were kept in the game by substandard play by Jake. It is what it is...he's isn't playing very consistently or well right now.

The disappointing aspect to Jake is that Marty righted the ship with him last year on eliminating several of his bad habits but they appear to have crept back into his game.

In the end, we will only go as far as Allen can carry us in the PO's. The goaltender will always be the most important player on the ice. We'll see if he can batten down the hatches as the year goes on but I sort of expect this from Jake at this point...a fair number of peaks and valleys....simply not as consistent as a guy like Corey Crawford.

 

[Dbrownss]

Put it this way....the Montreal fans largely acknowledged that they were significantly outplayed by the Blues that they were kept in the game by substandard play by Jake. It is what it is...he's isn't playing very consistently or well right now.

The disappointing aspect to Jake is that Marty righted the ship with him last year on eliminating several of his bad habits but they appear to have crept back into his game.

In the end, we will only go as far as Allen can carry us in the PO's. The goaltender will always be the most important player on the ice. We'll see if he can batten down the hatches as the year goes on but I sort of expect this from Jake at this point...a fair number of peaks and valleys....simply not as consistent as a guy like Corey Crawford.

Exactly which Goal was substandard?

 

[Note Worthy]

Exactly which Goal was substandard?

I'd say the 3rd goal at least. It was a wrister from the blueline that didn't hit anything on the way to the goal.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

Allen started the year playing very well but lately he's started to fall back into some of the bad habits I saw from him last year. He's doing a lot of scrambling and has been struggling to stay square to the puck. Hopefully he can turn it around quickly.

 

[Dbrownss]

I'd say the 3rd goal at least. It was a wrister from the blueline that didn't hit anything on the way to the goal.

The 3rd goal was a screened(i think) slap shot from Shea Weber off a faceoff....thats kinda his thing.



Im not trying to say Allen has been awesome so far but last night's game wasnt on Allen.

 

[carter333167]

Exactly which Goal was substandard?

At a bare minimum, the 5 hole goal was substandard. Stick on the ice prevents that goal (a problem for Jake last year that Marty corrected) as well as being faster into the butterfly. Candidly, Jake's preparation on both the Weber shots was pretty slow. Go the game video and watch Price's technique on point shots vs Jake's...it's a pretty big difference. Price is faster into the butterfly and has better general positioning and better use of his stick (By the time the camera pans to Price on a point shot, he is largely already stationary in the butterfly--certainly not in the process of dropping). Jake was not seemingly tracking the puck quickly on those shots and was slow to react on both. They were NOT bang bang plays...he had time to prepare and should have taken away the lower part of the net at a minimum.

As for the Benn goal, Jake seemed to duck the shot. I don't know how else to explain it but he simply ducked. I said it last night...Jake at times makes himself very small in his butterfly...he should get better coverage for a man his size but he intermittently ducks and overcrouches.

I think that point shots are an underperforming area for Jake whereas I think he overperforms on close in scrambles. This is why facing a team like Nashville is a bit scary...b/c they generate so many point opportunities from guys who are good at getting the puck through the screens.

 

[wannabebluesplayer]

At a bare minimum, the 5 hole goal was substandard. Stick on the ice prevents that goal (a problem for Jake last year that Marty corrected) as well as being faster into the butterfly. Candidly, Jake's preparation on both the Weber shots was pretty slow. Go the game video and watch Price's technique on point shots vs Jake's...it's a pretty big difference. Price is faster into the butterfly and has better general positioning and better use of his stick (By the time the camera pans to Price on a point shot, he is largely already stationary in the butterfly--certainly not in the process of dropping). Jake was not seemingly tracking the puck quickly on those shots and was slow to react on both. They were NOT bang bang plays...he had time to prepare and should have taken away the lower part of the net at a minimum.

As for the Benn goal, Jake seemed to duck the shot. I don't know how else to explain it but he simply ducked. I said it last night...Jake at times makes himself very small in his butterfly...he should get better coverage for a man his size but he intermittently ducks and overcrouches.

You're basically comparing the best goalie on the planet to Jake. Jake's a good goalie who has his flaws, but that comparison is unfair. I don't think this year is about mental lapses and him being in his head like his struggles last year. Scoring is up across the league and this has been a thing with Blues goalies in the recent history. Their save % are awful while their goals against averages are above average to good because of the shot suppression and prevention the team in front of him plays. He does give up goals from high danger areas (hence why they are called high danger) but also makes those saves quite often too. His technique isn't as sharp as it was the 2nd half of last season, but it doesn't mean he won't pick it up either. He's by far, not the biggest problem on this team or why they lost games recently. I am not trying to say Jake's great or say he's played well either. He's been average and that's what the Blues have needed him to be to start the year. Let's see at the halfway point and closer to the playoffs if he's struggling.