Jaroslav Halak Injury: Blues Activate Halak From IR

Sure, the Blues' current four game losing streak isn't all Brian Elliott's fault, but he certainly hasn't helped the situation any. Even when the offense gives him support, as they did in last night's 6-5 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks, Elliott hasn't had any confidence at all. His five hole has been mistaken for the Arch on several occasions by tourists, and there's a good reason for that -- they're the same size.

Thankfully now that the offense seems to be clicking, the Blues are getting their last line of defense back. Jaroslav Halak has been activated from the injured reserve today, meaning that he can start in Monday's game against the Los Angeles Kings. Jake Allen has been returned to the Peoria Rivermen.

Before anyone starts throwing a party yet, you do have to remember that there's an important piece of the puzzle still not firing on all cylinders -- the defense. During the Blues' losing streak, Roman Polak is an abysmal -6. Kevin Shattenkirk is a -3. Barret Jackman's a -5, Alex Pietrangelo is a -5, Wade Redden is a -6, Kris Russell is a -3 (mostly because he didn't play Saturday night), and Ian Cole's a +1 by virtue of only having played in one of the four games. Yes, a lot of this issue is because there haven't been many goals scored by the Blues to be on the ice for save for Saturday. But still, goals were going in at an insane rate against the team. The defense has to take a lot of blame for this losing streak.