Montreal Canadiens: Jake Allen Could Use a Little Support

Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jake Allen was acquired and then signed to be a solid, reliable number two option for starting goaltender Carey Price.

Allen has filled that role admirably, playing extremely well for the Habs this season. He has stolen a few games for the team with terrific efforts.

It would be nice if his teammates would repay him with a couple of goals in one of his upcoming starts.

Allen has been used a little more than expected recently, and that is going to continue. Price injured himself in a game against the Edmonton Oilers earlier this month and missed a week or so. When he returned, he was once again injured against the Oilers when Alex Chiasson ran into him in the goal crease.

Price will be out at least another week and Allen is going to have to step up.

This hasn’t been a problem for the goalie, but he just can’t seem to get any offence from his teammates when he is in goal.

You would think at this point of the season, the Habs would score just about as often no matter who is in their net. Why does it matter if it is Carey Price or Jake Allen in goal? How does that affect a forwards ability to score a goal?

Well, that’s tough to answer, but it clearly makes an impact on the Canadiens this season.

Allen has played 1120 minutes for the Habs. That is the equivalent of 18.67 games of hockey and in that time the Canadiens have just 39 goals. That is an average of 2.09 goals per contest.

Price has played a total of 1478 minutes this season, or the equivalent of 24.64 hockey games. In that time, the Canadiens have scored 82 goals. That is an average of 3.33 goals per 60 minutes of hockey.

So, with the exact same team in front of him, Price can expect them to score 1.24 more goals per game than when Allen is in net.

The difference has been even sharper lately as the Canadiens were able to fill the net with Allen in goal early in the season. In Allen’s first four starts, the Habs scored 17 goals. That is almost half their production for him in just four of his 19 games this season.

That means, in his last 15 appearances, the Habs have scored just 22 goals. That is a paltry 1.5 goals per 60 minutes of hockey since early February.

With Price injured for the next week, at the very least, the Canadiens are going to need to figure out why they can’t score with Allen in their net.

Allen has played just fine for the Canadiens this season. His 2.52 goals against average and .914 save percentage on the year show as much. His four wins in his last 14 appearances don’t suggest it, but Allen has not been a problem at all.

He just needs a little help from his friends.