Blues 7 – Canadian 2 | It’s time for this to stop

At one point in the third period, Jake Allen made a routine save, and some fans applauded, sarcastically of course.

View the match summary

That pretty much sums up this Sunday afternoon at the Bell Center, which should have been more festive with families and children in the stands, but no. Final score: St. Louis Blues 7, Canadian 2.

We will have understood that Jake Allen had a bad one in the system, and that explains the final mark, like the paltry applause.

“I hate it, honestly,” Mike Matheson said of the reaction. I understand that fans have the right to do what they want, and they are passionate, which is part of why we love them. But to think it’s Jake’s fault, I think it’s unfair. »

It’s probably unfair, in fact, but it’s one of the problems that can arise in a three-goalkeeper system. Before jumping on the ice this Super Bowl Sunday, Jake Allen had not played since January 27, and in such a context, should we be surprised if the main interested party looked like he did looked, that is to say, a rusty goaltender, who had difficulty tracking the puck and controlling his returns?

Jake Allen must at least give his club a chance of victory. He did not do it.

“It wasn’t his day,” admitted head coach Martin St-Louis. But Jake is a veteran. It’s something that’s going to happen to every goalie… The sun’s going to come up tomorrow, we’re going to have to go back to work, and I know that’s what Jake is going to do. »

If it wasn’t clear before this, it couldn’t be clearer now: this menage a trois in front of the net must stop. Because it’s not good for anyone, and what’s more, it leads to moments like that, where no one looks good. Neither the goalkeeper nor the coaches, and even less the management, who imposed this decision.

While Samuel Montembeault establishes himself as the number one goalkeeper, the other two are reduced to having to share the work of a reserve. Cayden Primeau hasn’t played since January 20, and even then, that date is an evening where he arrived in net in relief.

Allen, for his part, is struggling to find his bearings, and it is not with such performances that another team will feel the need to call Brossard to ask questions about him.

“It’s a team game and we have our share of responsibilities in that,” defender David Savard said. We don’t blame Jake. On several occasions, we were in front of him, we blocked his view. We have to do a better job in front of him to help him. We know he is capable of making big saves for us. »

In the meantime, this menage a trois will continue, because management has decided so. In the context of an already lost season, it’s probably not a tragedy, but it’s clearly a formula that doesn’t work.

With all this, and with such performances, the scenario of a possible transaction for Jake Allen before the March 8 deadline seems more and more improbable to us.

In details

Massacre in defense, long absence for Harvey-Pinard

As misfortune never comes alone, two Habs defenders fell in combat on Sunday. The match was only five minutes old when Jordan Harris was hit in the head by Samuel Blais.

Harris appeared dazed, even disoriented, after the impact, and he needed the help of two teammates to get off the ice. The team said after the game that he suffered an “upper body” injury, not-so-secret code for a probable concussion. At the very end of the match, Kaiden Guhle appeared to injure his left shoulder while taking a (legal) check from Marco Scandella. No details were provided about it.

Otherwise, the Canadian revealed that Rafaël Harvey-Pinard would miss four to six weeks due to a “lower body” injury suffered Saturday against the Dallas Stars. This schedule would point, roughly speaking, towards a return between March 10 and 24, in which case he could play the last 13 to 18 matches of the calendar.

Struble pain, Roy shines

Praised for his reliability since his arrival at the club in November, Jayden Struble had a difficult day at the office. From his first presence, he was overwhelmed on his left by Alexey Toropchenko, who scored. At the end of the first period, the same Struble was punished for holding the same Toropchenko, and the Blues quickly thwarted Jake Allen on the power play. The defenseman admitted that this game was the most frustrating of his young NHL career. He said, as usual, that he wanted to quickly forget this performance and move forward. On the other hand, another recruit, Joshua Roy, delivered a very positive, even inspired, performance. Recalled in disaster on Saturday, the Quebecer was inserted to the left of Alex Newhook and Joel Armia, on a trio which was threatening throughout the meeting. Roy stood out in particular by stealing two pucks deep into the opposing zone. “I try to bring that to my game, to be involved,” he said about it. Skill-wise, I know I’m capable, but I think I can bring something else offensively. »

Today’s learning

The thousands of children gathered at the Bell Center probably did not think they would learn so much about hockey on this Sunday afternoon. Neither do we, actually. The Habs’ first goal, however, allowed us to update our knowledge on major penalties. After Samuel Blais was sent out of the game due to a dangerous hit on Jordan Harris, the Habs took advantage of a long five-minute power play. However, when Nick Suzuki scored his team, the penalty had ended five seconds ago, but there were still only four skaters in white on the ice. However, no one slept by gas. Under section 20.3 of the NHL rule book, during a major penalty resulting in an expulsion, the offending team is not required to immediately send a replacement player to the dugout: it can wait a stoppage of play towards the end of the penalty. The problem is that the hoped-for whistle never came for the Blues. They therefore had to defend with one man less for longer than expected, and the Canadian took advantage of it. Even though the locals were still playing five against four, it was written on the score sheet that the goal was scored at five against five. That’s good to say.

Rising

Joshua Roy

A good match overall for the striker, freshly recalled after Saturday’s match.

Falling

Jake Allen

He allowed two goals on the first three shots in his direction, and everything went downhill from there.

The number

3

The number of players lost by the Canadian this weekend due to injuries.

With Simon-Olivier Lorange, The Press