Elliott attempts to put past scratch behind him with hot start to new year
The St. Louis Blues had a goaltending controversy entering the season, as young Jake Allen had passed veteran Brian Elliott on the depth chart at the end of last season to earn a spot as the team's No. 1 goaltender. This fall, the Blues said Allen and Elliott would both start over and battle for the starting job, and it's the 30-year-old Elliott who seized the early lead in net.
Elliott has a 4-0 record through four games while compiling a .918 save percentage. Allen, meanwhile, is 1-1 in two games with a .887 save percentage.
"Like I always say, ‘Just try to play your game,’" Elliott told reporters after a 4-2 win over Winnipeg Saturday. “Yesterday doesn’t matter, tomorrow doesn’t matter either. It’s just today. Especially on a long road trip like this, it’s just one game at a time, try to play that gutsy road hockey that wins games."
But Elliott's job is not secure yet. While Elliott has more wins at this point, he has played against less competitive teams (Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg) than Allen, whose starts came against Vancouver and Minnesota.
Allen is projected to face another tough team on Tuesday against Montreal, so both netminders still have a lot of work left to establish their spots on the depth chart. But with the focus on the future rather than the past, anything is possible.
(h/t St. Louis Post-Dispatch)
