JR had a stat that is incredible. The Blues have allowed 5+ goals in 4 of their 14 road games. That's just simply brutal.

Maybe the Blues are a match-up team and require having the last change. Whatever it is, it needs to be figured out or it's going to be a short playoff run.

i don't even think playoffs are a given at this point.

Jake Allen Home/Road splits

Home: 10-0-2 1.79 .932

Road 4-6-1 3.35 .879

As he goes, this team goes.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote:Jake Allen Home/Road splits

Home: 10-0-2 1.79 .932

Road 4-6-1 3.35 .879

As he goes, this team goes.

Yeah, there's no question Allen's been way less comfortable on the road this year for some reason. We're actually scoring more on the road than we are at home.

Our home / away splits are really extreme, but it seems like home ice is more of a factor so far this year. Home teams are 267-132-41 this year, which seems crazy.

Either way, Allen needs to step up or it will be a big issue.

Not sure how much the having-a-camera-in-your-face-24/7 Road to the classics thing helped them this past road trip. 1-3 since that started a week ago.

The team is fragile and collapses when Allen falters, and Allen has been awful on the road. Here is where they miss Elliott. In the Allen/Elliott days, one guy would stink it up for a stretch and they could plug the other one right in. Neither were superb, but both were good to ride in spurts. Obviously they don't trust Hutton to bail them out. Allen has yet to prove that he can be a #1.

IMHO, some of it is the goal tending, not having a backup as good as Elliott had been in the past for us, but I think we're a "match-up dependant" team right now, too.

Most of our current defense is either still very inexperienced (Edmundson, Parayko, Hunt) and/or smaller and more offense than defense oriented (Shattenkirk/Hunt). Say what you will about Gunnarson, he's experienced and steady, if unspectacular, and the blueline could use some of that right now.

Also, there's only one player on the team that really defies matching up against (Tarasenko). Guys like Backes and Brouwer had a combination of size and skills that made them more versatile, harder to play against in just one certain way, especially on different lines from each other AND the hard-to-stop-anyway Tarasenko. Our current team doesn't have that depth, that versatility, but it doesn't have enough sheer talent to defy any opponent's strategy and dictate the play, either.

Just my 2 cents.

RAFritchey wrote:
Also, there's only one player on the team that really defies matching up against (Tarasenko). Guys like Backes and Brouwer had a combination of size and skills that made them more versatile, harder to play against in just one certain way, especially on different lines from each other AND the hard-to-stop-anyway Tarasenko. Our current team doesn't have that depth, that versatility, but it doesn't have enough sheer talent to defy any opponent's strategy and dictate the play, either.

Just my 2 cents.

Very well said.
Going into the season, I felt that the loss of what those two players provided, was going to be a real issue. How much that veteran leadership on the ice, and off, has been a factor on this year's road performance, is impossible to measure, but I suspect, it's certainly at least one factor.
I don't blame Army for not being able to resign them, considering the factors involved, but he does have to be held responsible for not finding at least one player to provide some of the things this team lost with the departure of Backes and Brouwer.
I thought this team, as presently constructed, would struggle to make the playoffs, and nothing Ive seen yet, has changed my mind.

I think Allens stats are as much of a product of the way the team plays in front of him as his play. The whole team just does not seem to be comfortable playing on the road.

I honestly wouldn't start Shakey Jake in another road game. What a shit show. I would actually be very much in favor of trading Hutton to Calgary and bringing Moose back. Nothing at all against Hutton, but I think Elliott would be totally fine if he came back here.

scottie18 wrote:I think Allens stats are as much of a product of the way the team plays in front of him as his play. The whole team just does not seem to be comfortable playing on the road.

He's letting in bad goals.

Jake has always made spectacular saves and then let in the softest of goals which deflates the team, it shows more now than ever.

Matangama wrote:I honestly wouldn't start Shakey Jake in another road game. What a shit show. I would actually be very much in favor of trading Hutton to Calgary and bringing Moose back. Nothing at all against Hutton, but I think Elliott would be totally fine if he came back here.

HAHAHAHA why the fuck would elliott do that? he has to be yucking it up.

He must just be too advanced for the weaker shots, that's why he stops the tough ones. That's an elite goalie right there.

We've all heard it many times- he has the tools, it's just a matter of him really feeling comfortable in net. He's at the age now where we should be seeing his full potential over the next few seasons, he's signed with us through that time, and now it's on the coaching staff(s) and himself to get the the most out of him.

No way we would get a guy who Calgary knows can turn it on and be a solid starter for a backup who's been shaky this year. Elliott may even be getting another chance for them pretty soon after a bad game by Chad Johnson last night.

insideout wrote:

scottie18 wrote:I think Allens stats are as much of a product of the way the team plays in front of him as his play. The whole team just does not seem to be comfortable playing on the road.

He's letting in bad goals.

He has, but the team has allowed some excellent scoring chances occur. He has to play better, but so does the team in front of him.

This thread isn't a concern anymore since we seem to be pretty bad at home now too.

Dave's a mess wrote:This thread isn't a concern anymore since we seem to be pretty bad at home now too.

Consistency. All we were asking for was consistency. /end

Dave's a mess wrote:This thread isn't a concern anymore since we seem to be pretty bad at home now too.

Just delete the last three words of the subject?

If Elliott, Backes, and Brower were still here, and were in the injuried list, the answer would be pretty clear. We miss what those three key performers brought to the table.
They left, and their replacements haven't filled the empty gaps left by their departure.

barnburner wrote:If Elliott, Backes, and Brower were still here, and were in the injuried list, the answer would be pretty clear. We miss what those three key performers brought to the table.
They left, and their replacements haven't filled the empty gaps left by their departure.

what replacements?

T.C. wrote:

barnburner wrote:If Elliott, Backes, and Brower were still here, and were in the injured list, the answer would be pretty clear. We miss what those three key performers brought to the table.
They left, and their replacements haven't filled the empty gaps left by their departure.

what replacements?

Perron, Yak, and more out of guys like Lehtera and Bergs.

yeah, i don't know on what planet DP & yak are replacements for backes & brouwer. but i hear you. my point is, we didn't replace them. we added other bodies, yes.

T.C. wrote:yeah, i don't know on what planet DP & yak are replacements for backes & brouwer. but i hear you. my point is, we didn't replace them. we added other bodies, yes.

Yak, no. DP, yes. Perron has been a good add for this team and takes the place of Brouwer (in slightly different ways) sufficiently. We don't have a replacement for Backes though, which is missed (although it was still 100% the right decision not to sign him).

Beatoni12 wrote:

T.C. wrote:yeah, i don't know on what planet DP & yak are replacements for backes & brouwer. but i hear you. my point is, we didn't replace them. we added other bodies, yes.

Yak, no. DP, yes. Perron has been a good add for this team and takes the place of Brouwer (in slightly different ways) sufficiently. We don't have a replacement for Backes though, which is missed (although it was still 100% the right decision not to sign him).

agree on the last point, but perron is not the physical presence brouwer was.