GDT Game 76: 3/27/18|7:00 PM CT|vs Sharks|FSMW/KMOX

[theohall]

ST. LOUIS -- A month ago, St. Louis Blues goalie Jake Allen was saddled to the bench. Now he's the league's second star.

Allen went 3-0-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and .961 save percentage in wins over Boston, Vancouver and Columbus last week. The Blues' 2-1 win on Saturday ended the Blue Jackets' 10-game winning streak.

"We've got a good thing going right now," Allen told NHL.com. "I just happened to get the honor.

It's not a huge deal. Right now, we're headed in the right direction. Seven games left, a big one tomorrow and looking forward to it."

Allen earned the second star behind Edmonton's Connor McDavid and ahead of Winnipeg's Kyle Connor.

Allen went 2-13-0 from Dec. 14-Feb. 25. During that span, Carter Hutton went 11-5-0 and earned the majority of the playing time before being sidelined due to an injury.

With Hutton shelved, Allen found his game again.

"Both have had really good years for us and obviously there was a time where with Jake, maybe it wasn't going as well," Blues coach Mike Yeo told NHL.com. "We could point to the goal scoring, we could point to a number of things, but I think by his standards, I think by our standards, we knew that there was another level there and certainly we're seeing it right now with Jake.

"But Carter's play during that time, that was real important for the group. You need two goalies in the NHL right now. The days of a guy being in the net for 70 games a year and being problem-free for the whole season, it's too difficult not. It's too much parity, it's too much with all the schedules, too demanding. The importance of two goaltenders probably has never been more important."

Hutton returned to practice on Monday and likely will get a start over the weekend when the Blues have back-to-back road games in Vegas and Arizona.

Allen figures to get the nod as the Blues host the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night. St. Louis had won five straight and entered Monday holding the second wild card in the Western Conference.

The Blues are 0-2-0 against the Sharks this season, including a 2-0 loss in San Jose on March 8.

The Sharks won their eighth straight, edging the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in a shootout on Monday. It is tied for the third-longest winning streak in Sharks history and is their longest since winning nine straight from Nov. 13-Dec. 4, 2008.

Kevin Labanc scored the game-winner in the fifth round of the shootout and Martin Jones made 28 saves.

"It wasn't pretty for a lot of it," Jones told NHL.com. "But we found a way to win, and we've been doing that a lot lately, so that's a good sign."

Sharks forward Joe Pavelski said the team cannot get complacent.

"Our game's still in a good spot, but it has to go back up a level instead of trending down," Pavelski told NHL.com. "We understand where we're at, what time of the season it is, what needs to be done."

[gaijin]

Good news: Vegas beat Colorado in regulation. Bad news: LA beat Calgary to move into a wild card spot, pushing the Blues out.

Wild Card 27 Mar.jpg (60.96 KiB) Viewed 1771 times

Not many other impactful games tonight besides Blues vs. Sharks. Anaheim plays Vancouver, so it would be nice if the Canucks could pull out a win so as to strengthen the Blues' wild card chances.

And don't look now- but the Blues are only 4 points back of Minnesota, who plays Nashville tonight.

*edit- It's a damn shame the Nashville-Winnipeg matchup can only happen in the 2nd round instead of the Conference Final. That series should be fantastic.

[glen a richter]

Are the new guys... Stevens and Reinke, playing or press-boxing it?

[WaukeeBlues]

Another "must win."

Other good news is that Dallas lost in regulation to the Canucks the other night and they're essentially out of it. Calgary was officially eliminated. So the field is condensing here pretty significantly down the stretch.

"Must win" game every night. Let's get it Blues

[theohall]

I wouldn't call this a "must" win after winning 5 straight and facing another playoff team on a really strong winning streak.

As long as the Blues match the Avs record the rest of the way, the only "must" win would be the final game of the season.

Would it help to win? Heck, yes. Just not counting on it with the way the Sharks are playing lately. 0-2 vs the Sharks this season.

[theohall]

Are the new guys... Stevens and Reinke, playing or press-boxing it?

Press box. Not changing lines while on a 5-game streak.

Forwards
Jaden Schwartz - Brayden Schenn - Vladimir Tarasenko
Patrik Berglund - Kyle Brodziak - Alexander Steen
Dmitrij Jaskin - Vladimir Sobotka - Tage Thompson
Ivan Barbashev - Oskar Sundqvist - Chris Thorburn

Defense
Joel Edmundson - Alex Pietrangelo
Vince Dunn - Colton Parayko
Robert Bortuzzo - Jordan Schmaltz

Goalie
Jake Allen

[gaijin]

Press box. Not changing lines while on a 5-game streak.

That's... unusually sane.

[theohall]

Too bad the power play is goalless in their last 3 games. Last 2 games the PP has a whopping one shot on goal in it's last 5 opportunities against 1 average and one bad defensive team.

This is going to matter at some point - having the worst 1st power play unit in the NHL and continuing to do absolutely nothing but roll it out game after game, unless one of the 4 forwards gets hurt.

The crappy unit was put back together because the 3F 2D group did not do well in their 2 opportunities against one of the top defensive teams in the league, Boston. What's the excuse for not changing it after 1 shot in 5 opportunities vs Columbus and Vancouver, 2 bad defensive teams?? Not to mention the documented being the worst PP in the league since Feb 1st when it's together.

[Robb_K]

Big PK here. Can't go down 2!

[Robb_K]

Good Kill! No SOG!

[Robb_K]

Sundqvist finally scores his 1st!!! Blues tie it at 1!!!!

[glen a richter]

SUNDQVIST???

[Robb_K]

The Blues need to score on this power play!

[Robb_K]

And they DOOOOOO!!! Tarasenko ties it with his 30th!!!

[gaijin]

Probably a bit too much to ask for Tarasenko to match his goal total from last year in the remaining games...

[gaijin]

Great pressure by the Blues late in the 3rd. Hopefully they can get that elusive go-ahead goal.

[gaijin]

OT WINNER!!!! TARASENKO!

[Robb_K]

Blues Win!!! Tarasenko blasts it in on a fine feed by Sobotka!!! 3-2!!!

[theohall]

Blues are only 3 points back of the Wild and have 1 more ROW with the same number of games remaining. 3rd place in the Central is reachable which would mean facing Winnipeg in the 1st round, instead of Nashville or Vegas.

[SamJunior]

Blues are only 3 points back of the Wild and have 1 more ROW with the same number of games remaining. 3rd place in the Central is reachable which would mean facing Winnipeg in the 1st round, instead of Nashville or Vegas.

I would rather play against Vegas than the Jets. They have absolutely no playoff experience as a team, and looking at their roster they don't really have have any player who's already proved himself in the post season, maybe other than Neal. Not like the Blues have so much playoff stars but still...