Game 3 of the Western Conference Final gave St. Louis Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock plenty to think about.
One topic of thought is goaltending.
While Thursday’s 3-0 loss certainly wasn’t the finest showing of Elliott’s playoff campaign, the blame cannot be placed solely on the veteran goaltender. The Blues should take a long hard look at their stalled offence for that, after being shut out for the second straight game.
Hitchcock made the decision to swap Elliott for backup Jake Allen with 15 minutes left in regulation, prompting some to wonder whether we might see Allen in the crease to start Game 4 on Saturday.
“Yeah, I’m going to think about that one,” Hitchcock said. “Got two good goalies. Pretty good choice. Can’t lose on either one.”
Hitchcock indicated that he’s in no rush to name his starter.
“I’ll kind of wait that one out. Kind of sleep on it,” he said. “Talk to Jimmy, talk to the coaches, see what they think.”
The decision to make the goalie change in Game 3 was prompted by the Sharks’ third goal of the game.
“I didn’t like the third goal,” Hitchcock said following the game. “I thought we needed to catch our breath. I still honestly thought if we could have got a goal, we still had a chance to come back in the game. I wanted to give us a breath.”
“I didn’t like the coverage on the third goal,” he continued. “I didn’t like the third goal at all.”
Allen himself didn’t see much ice time, as he was pulled with five minutes to left in the Blues’ late rallying effort.
“I was told by the new school coaches that I’m to pull the goalie earlier, so I’m just following the analytics,” he said.
