Should Jake Allen start tomorrow night in Chicago?

To be clear, I’m not blaming last night’s loss on Jake Allen. The entire team looked lost in the third period, couldn’t clear the zone, and barely traveled into the Blackhawks’ zone. It was a complete breakdown of epic proportions. They only had five shots on net during the third period, and many shot attempts went wide on a goal that they should’ve gone into.

But when you look at the overall play in the game, you also can’t make the argument that Jake Allen was fine. As Ben Hochman put it:

He just looked weird. Unsure. Askew. And the Chicago Blackhawks scored numerous soft goals in a 4-3 win over St. Louis. Allen’s play was unfathomable and unacceptable, but in a way, it was also simply sad.

God help me that I actually agree with Mike Milbury on something, but his assessment of Allen last night was pretty accurate:

The Blues need to win the next two games if they want to make the playoffs regardless of the outcome of tonight’s Colorado/San Jose tilt. I understand the desire of the team to give Allen a bounce back game, but now isn’t the time to try to help someone regain their confidence for what feels like the 100th time. You have to win.

If Carter Hutton is healthy enough to start tomorrow night in Chicago, he starts.

Or not.