Just when it seems like things can’t get any worse or more bizarre in the St. Louis crease, things just got a bit more ugly. After the Blues got rocked by the Minnesota Wild, a game in which Carter Hutton had to be pulled in favor of Jake Allen after allowing five goals, the team now has a rather dubious trend of pulling its netminders.
#stlblues goalies have been pulled in four of last nine games.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) January 27, 2017
That’s a dreadful run of play. That’s not counting the fact Allen was pulled twice in the same game.
When evaluating any goalie in the NHL who has played 10 or more games this season, Hutton ranks 37th with a 2.81 GAA and Allen ranks 39th with a 2.83 GAA.
Just when it looks like Hutton is settling down and providing some stability, he gets torched. Of course, a lot of the blame falls on the team’s defense – or lack of defense – which has been absolutely horrible and maybe just as big of a concern as the team’s goalies.
So, where do they go from here? If I knew, I’d call up the Blues and tell them because it’s clear no one has a clue. Both Allen and Hutton have been streaky, unreliable and unable to hold down regular time for the Blues.
Unfortunately, a goalie trade sounds like a bigger and bigger possibility as teams continue to hang ugly numbers on the Blues. A couple of familiar names have been mentioned – Ben Bishop and Brian Elliott – which would be a brutal slice of humble pie for the front office. Should they have to splash out to bring in help in net, it comes at the cost of not only pure assets, but possibly the ability to make other trades to help areas that desperately need assistance, like down the middle of the ice.
As mentioned ad nauseam, the Blues have more problems than just their goaltending. Bringing in a new goalie won’t suddenly change all of the bad penalties, bad defending from both defenders and forwards and the inability to give Vladimir Tarasenko any kind of help.
The Blues haven’t hit rock bottom as a team quite yet, but their goaltending has crashed and burned and can’t really get much worse.
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