If Brian Elliott’s career with the St. Louis Blues could be summarized by one game, it’d be the recent 3-0 loss to the Dallas Stars. Jake Allen started the first leg of the home-and-home series, picking up the win in a lengthy shootout after the Blues had a mostly dominant performance. Elliott was tasked with the second leg and the Blues put in a lousy effort in front of him.
Elliott was outstanding in the loss against Dallas. He made some great saves, including this outrageous robbery:
In front of him, the Blues were a mess. This was yet another instance of Elliott putting in a great performance while the skaters in front of him left him out to dry. If that sounds familiar, it’s because this has been a common occurrence across Elliott’s time with the Blues.
Brian Elliott has a 1.85 GAA & .939 SV% his past four road games but has a 0-3-1 record. A little help offensively might help out. #stlblues
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) December 28, 2015
Elliott was passed over by Jaroslav Halak, Ryan Miller and most recently Allen. He continually gets the short end of the stick and yet he continues to play well in the crease. The Blues have constantly demonstrated with their actions that they do not intend to give Elliott a real opportunity in net and it’s rather remarkable the way in which he has conducted himself over the years.
Most of this argument is anecdotal. Watch the Blues and you’ll see a trend of the team playing better in front of Allen. This may be due to scheduling (Elliott was slotted for the more difficult road game which was the second half of the home-and-home set), but it’s alarming and disappointing to see Elliott treated in such a manner.
He deserves better.
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