The Blues were a fashionable pick before the season to come out of the Western Conference and make a run at the Stanley Cup.  So why have they at times been outside of the top 8 in the conference trying to claw their way back in the standings?  The answer is simple, their goaltending has been atrocious.  This is in spite of the Blues giving up the fewest amount of shots per game (24.2 shots against/game) in the NHL. 

Despite their well below average play from the goaltending position the St. Louis Blues have climbed all the way back to 5th overall in the conference as of today.  Realistically with Chicago in their division 4th overall is the highest potential seed they will be able to obtain this season. 

Goals against average is more of a team stat than a reflection of an individual goaltender’s performance.  Save % might not tell the complete story either but I think it does a much better job of painting the picture of how an individual goalie is playing.

The average Save % for goaltenders in the 2012-2013 NHL season has been .909% according to quanthockey.com

With that knowledge let’s take a deeper look at the Save % of the three St. Louis Blues goaltenders who have received playing time in the 2012-2013 season: Jaroslav Halak, Brian Elliott, and Jake Allen. 

Below is a chart that breaks down each goalies performance game by game.  The bolded numbers are the Save % of the goalie who earned the decision that game.  Keep in mind the league average is .909%. 

The Blues remarkably have had 17 out of their 28 games below the league average.

St. Louis is 3-7-1 when the goaltender who earned decision is sub .880% and 13-3-1 when the goaltender who earned decision is .880% or better.  In the past 6 games Blues goaltending has been sub .880% only once.  Not shockingly the Blues are 5-1 in their last 6 games.

It just goes to show that the Blues don’t even need average goaltending to win games; they just need the bare minimum you would expect from an NHL caliber netminder. 

Going into a game a coach in the NHL should expect his goaltender to provide a save % of at least .880.  For the Blues that has not been a given this year, thus they have found themselves fluctuating all over the map in the standings.

The good news for St. Louis is that Halak has been battling some nagging injuries and if he can get healthy again, his track record speaks for itself, as his career save % is .917.  Jake Allen has provided better goaltending as of late while Halak is still on the mend.  The rookie is 8-1 this season with a .920 save %. 

The wild card for the Blues is what they will do with their goalie situation once some of their injured players return to the lineup.  How long will the Blues keep three goalies on the roster?  Will they keep the red hot Allen up and subject Elliott to waivers?  Could they trade Elliott?  Or will the blues take a chance that Elliott turns his miserable season (.851 save %) around and option Jake Allen back to the AHL where he does not have to pass through waivers?  These are questions that will have to be answered in the very near future.

If the Blues are able to maintain their lead in the shots against per game department and their goalies start playing to at least the league average, look out because they will be a scary team come playoff time.

Thanks for reading!