This was such a quintessential Jake Allen game. If we had a Jake Allen Bingo card with all his tendencies, both good and bad, we would have filled the whole thing up. He had highlight reel saves, and he had some real blunders. Misplayed/judged a puck leading to an empty net goal...check. Failed to challenge a shooter leading to a goal...check. Shortside goal against...check. Jaw-dropping save to bail out the team when the D shit the bed...also check. He is such a head-scratching goalie.
Still, the common refrain entering this season stands. Despite this showing, yes, we are better off with him as our back-up for one more season than whatever goalie we could have gotten off the scrap heap. Keep in mind that despite all his inconsistencies, he has a career 60% point capture. That equates to a 98 point season. For your backup to win at a playoff caliber pace is perfectly acceptable. That point capture includes many stretches where he was playing too many games and getting the tougher match-ups. Giving him less games and picking his match-ups should only help that percentage. This may have been the quintessential Allen game in that it had all his common blunders, but he doesn't often make them all in one game. This was a really bad one for him, yet we still got the W. We can get even more Ws with him if he is utilized correctly.
This is coming from someone who does not like Allen and has been a naysayer of his from the jump.
