Elliott was always more of a "shut it down" kind of goalie; he made the save, and that was it. Off to the dots you go. Allen makes a save and immediately is looking for that outlet pass, or wanting to dump it off to whichever defenseman is waiting behind the net. That can create chaos sometimes, which leads to second chances, which are then typically high-percentage or uncontested shots.
It seems to me that Elliott's style tends to be the safer bet, and it allowed our players to stay fresher to a degree. However, Allen helps, especially on shots early in a shift, break the puck out better, almost like Brodeur used to do with the Devils (although not as well, obviously). Sometimes I question Allen's "clock management," so to speak, in that he will try to do too much too late in a shift sometimes, where the best option is to just freeze the puck. But I do think that if he can continue to hone that skill, and continue to improve his ability to manage the ice from his net, he can be a great goalie.
The real question to me, given the thread we're in right now, is what kind of a goalie is Husso? I haven't watched him closely or often enough to know how "in control" is he out there, or how comfortable he is moving the puck when it's appropriate to do so. Or, conversely, whether he knows when it's best to just hang onto the puck and let the centers do their jobs at the faceoff dot.
