Sharks At Blues Game Five Morning Open Thread: Allen Back In Net

The first two periods of Saturday's 6-3 win against the San Jose Sharks were the best hockey that the team has played so far this series. Was some of that on Jake Allen? Yes - he had two solid periods, and it's tough to blame him for the own-goal scored by Joel Edmundson in the third. There's no harm in going to Allen, considering - and the team and Hitchcock have brought this up repeatedly - the Blues rode a tandem during the regular season, and it worked out well.

More of an impact on Saturday (and Thursday, because they were the only line that played worth a damn in that game), is Ken Hitchcock's new fourth line. Magnus Paajarvi, Kyle Brodziak, and Dmitrij Jaskin (with a strong emphasis on the last two), was solid - especially on Brodziak's second goal. Uncanny how goals can happen when a) you don't have someone with stone hands on Brodziak's wing and b) when the Sharks completely forget their game plan.

Will the Sharks forget it again tonight? Doubtful, so the Blues will have to repeat their game four performance tonight. It's doable. Hopefully it will be done.

This is your morning open thread. Chat up tonight's game while you're waiting for the puck to drop, and make sure to head back over for today's Lighting the Lamp, your preview, and your GDT. Head on over to Fear The Fin and see what their predictions are for tonight. Spoiler: they think they need to stick with Martin Jones. They're probably right.