The Blues are playing a dangerous game in front of Brian Elliott

Brian Elliott needs help.

The Blues dropped Game 1 to the Dallas Stars and the message again was clear – Elliott needs help in front of his crease and the Blues aren’t providing it.

Elliott has been the lone constant for the Blues during the playoffs. While the majority of the roster has gone through its ups and downs, Elliott has been a rock. He stood tall against the Chicago Blackhawks and was one of the main reasons the Blues find themselves in the second round. That journey into the second round may not last long if the Blues keep playing as they are in front of him.

The Blues are allowing a lot of shots and a lot of offensive chances and so far have been fortunate that Elliott has been able to keep most of those chances out of the net.

Following Game 1 against Dallas, the Blues have allowed an average of 37.3 shots per game in the playoffs. That’s the third-worst of any team, trailing only the New York Islanders (38.7) and the Florida Panthers (37.8). More troubling is the fact the Blues are only generating 29.6 shots per game. That discrepancy of -7.7 shots per game is a pretty wide margin and is the largest of any teams still skating in the playoffs.

Elliott has been able to keep .932% of those shots out, but should he stumble even slightly the Blues will find themselves on the wrong side of a lopsided game or even a lopsided series.

The Blues have to improve in front of Elliott. They need to block more shots. They need to prevent shots before they even develop which is exactly what burned the club in Game 1. The team’s forwards need to get moving and track the opponent’s third man in when entering the Blues’ zone. Stop standing around and start moving. Limit the opposition to one chance instead of the two and three attempts the Blues are currently allowing before finally clearing. Stand taller at the blueline. Don’t allow the opponent to enter the zone and comfortably set up shop.

The Blues may have been fortunate to end up on top over Chicago, but the same style won’t work against Dallas. Game 1 could have easily ended with the Stars winning by a large margin. Thanks to Elliott, the Blues were in it until the very end.

Of course, the broadcast – mainly Pierre McGuire – stated that Elliott needed to be better in Game 1. He did bobble a couple rebounds, but considering the flurry of shots and high quality chances, that’s not too bad. He stopped 40 of 42 shots and a lot of those were in dangerous areas of the ice. At least three were the type of saves that leave you in disbelief of how he kept the puck out. Long story short, Pierre’s were completely off once again.

The Blues are playing a dangerous game. Throughout the year they were mostly a 50-50 team when it comes to shots. They finished the regular season allowing an average of 29.7 shots per game while forcing 30.2.

The Blues need to figure things out in a hurry or the Stars will hang a crooked number sooner than later.