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Just a quick one, because in case anyone's forgotten, I'm on the East Coast. God forbid these things ever end in regulation, no?
Anyway -- Jake Allen's play is making his shaky Peoria stats a thing of the past. He's now 3-0-0, and tonight got his first taste of the shootout. He completely out-dueled Roberto Luongo in the shootout, and came up with huge saves in overtime when they were needed. He wasn't the only Blue who had a big night. Pucks couldn't get through the Roman Polak door if they wanted to -- Polak had eight blocked shots on the evening. Defenseman Barret Jackman also had a good night, ending with an assist and being the driving force on Andy McDonald's awkward angled goal:
The game, though, wasn't the best played. The Blues didn't have much jump to start it off, and the third period was sloppy at best. Penalties taken when they shouldn't've been as well as an amazing inability to clear the zone both could have combined for a disaster, especially when the Blues were forced to kill a 5-on-3 with Polak and Alex Pietrangelo both sitting in the box.
Maybe the Blues didn't have much to worry about, what with Allen scouting the shooters in the shootout from the bench before each one's turn.
I wouldn't be shocked if Ken Hitchcock read them the riot act on sloppy play after this game, and he should. It wasn't clean, and it wasn't pretty. Yes, a win's a win, and yes, it's nice to come back to Scottrade on Tuesday having cleaned up on a road trip. The Blues will take the two points, but they're going to need to find a cleaner and more assured way of getting them without giving a point away for free.