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Brian Elliott’s strong argument for Blues’ No. 1 job: three shutouts in a row

Brian Elliott

On Monday night, Ken Hitchcock admitted that the St. Louis Blues’ starting job is fair game. Deep down, the Blues brass might really want big-money goalie Jaroslav Halak to take it, but All-Star backup Brian Elliott is making it incredibly difficult to count him out with three straight shutouts.

The latest one happened tonight as Elliott stopped all 24 Nashville Predators shots as the Blues won 3-0, giving them an eight point lead over the Detroit Red Wings and a nine-point margin in front of Nashville for the Central Division title. (Yup, that’s about as close to “clinching” it as you can get.)

Amusingly enough, Elliott’s first shutout didn’t result in a win as his shutout wasn’t as good as Jonathan Quick’s in a shootout loss to the Los Angeles Kings on March 22. Even so, Elliott turned aside all 81 of the shots he’s seen in the last three games with a 186 minute and 33 second streak. That obviously makes it really, really hard for Hitchcock to deny him the playoff throne.

Here’s an interesting twist, though: Lou Korac reports that Halak will get the nod on Thursday.

It’s not a crazy choice because it gives Elliott a breather, doesn’t make things too hard on Halak and acknowledges the Blues comfortable playoff positioning, but it certainly opens the door for more “maybe too much of a good thing” material. For example: what happens if Halak gets a shutout of his own?

I know what you’re saying: poor Ken Hitchcock.

In all seriousness, though, who would you go with: Elliott or Halak? Or would you dare to continue the competition even as the playoffs begin?