Let’s be honest: the St. Louis Blues owe a lot to Jake Allen’s work against the Minnesota Wild in that first-round series.
He probably bought himself a significant amount of goodwill for that outstanding work, but Allen isn’t resting on his laurels. He admitted that “a little mistake by me cost” the Blues the 4-3 decision against the Predators, leaving St. Louis down 1-0 to Nashville.
The goal in question was Vernon Fiddler’s unlikely 4-3 tally, which came after an unsuccessful poke check attempt by Allen:
Now, to be fair, that wasn’t even the only failed poke check that turned into a goal, as Pekka Rinne also got beat after making such an attempt:
Then again, Allen is wise to score points with teammates for taking the blame. As far as his team, head coach Mike Yeo believes that it was the second period that really made the difference.
Yeo: "The second period was not good enough. Ultimately it cost us." #stlblues
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 27, 2017
Regardless, Allen and the Blues hope to carry over the momentum from their third-period dominance in Game 1 to Game 2 to tie the series 1-1.
That contest airs on NBCSN at 8 p.m. ET on Friday. (You can also watch online and via the NBC Sports App; here’s the livestream link.)