The St. Louis Blues haven’t been this close to the Stanley Cup since 1991, and head coach Ken Hitchcock sees his team with their back to the wall once again.

After going down 2-1 in the Western Conference finals to the San Jose Sharks, the Blues are looking to throw the kitchen sink at the wall as Hitchcock announced the pulling of starting goaltender Brian Elliott in favor of Jake Allen.

Friday’s start is the first for Allen this postseason, replacing Elliott who allowed three goals on 14 shots in Game 3 earlier this week.

That alone would be alarming information… except for the rest of the playoff history of Elliott. According to CBS Sports, the 31-year-old netminder has a .925 save percentage and 2.34 goals-against average. He has also been between the pipes in each of the Blues’ successful Game 7s in their two previous series, yet he will be replaced for Allen, who has not started a game of any kind since April 3.

It is all made more interesting because Allen was the tabbed starter last postseason… and hint, it didn’t go well. He went all of 2-4 in the lone round of the playoffs last season, as the Blues were bounced in the first round of the playoffs.

Clearly, the Blues coaching staff is looking throw anything and everything at the Sharks as this series continues.

 

[CBS Sports]

About Andrew Coppens

Andy is a contributor to The Comeback as well as Publisher of Big Ten site talking10. He also is a member of the FWAA and has been covering college sports since 2011. Andy is an avid soccer fan and runs the Celtic FC site The Celtic Bhoys. If he's not writing about sports, you can find him enjoying them in front of the TV with a good beer!