Montreal Canadiens: Too much will be asked of Jake Allen in 2022-23

It’s early, but the Montreal Canadiens are asking a lot of Jake Allen.

The Montreal Canadiens are two games into the 2022-23 season, with Jake Allen taking the brunt of things. While they are entrenched in a rebuild, and the hopes for the 2022-23 season are not the highest, with some fans being all-in on the Connor Bedard sweepstakes.

For the Montreal Canadiens, a lot is being asked of their netminder early on in the season. While the Toronto Maple Leafs thrive off offense and creating scoring chances by peppering the net, it’s asking a lot for Allen to go out there and make 70 saves over two games.

While there’s not much of an expectation that the Habs defense will thrive this year, they’re young and inexperienced, so this season will be a true learning curve as the youngsters start to adjust.

In turn, the opposition will find ways to beat them and get pucks to the net. In the Habs opener, Allen made 29 saves on 32 shots on goal as the Habs captured a last-second victory in the home opener.

He followed that up in game two by getting absolutely peppered by the Detroit Red Wings. He faced 38 shots, making 37 saves on the night in what ended as a 3-0 loss after two empty net goals.

It’s a lot to expect Montreal Canadiens netminder Jake Allen to hold this up.

With the Habs’ defense being the way it is and the rise in shot attempts overall, Allen’s got to be on top of his game. While he was exceptional in the game against the Red Wings, it’s hard to expect this type of performance to hold up over time.

Allen may be able to keep it up for some time, but things are going to take a turn for the worse at some point. It’s going to bring a lot of pressure to the Habs netminder to go out and make 30-35 saves night in and night out, with a plethora more shot attempts that don’t reach the net than Allen’s still seeing.

While Allen is a veteran with ten years under his belt, it’s hard to expect Allen to be able to hold up. The Habs’ defense has to continue to make strides as the season continues, which is a lot to expect from a group of rookies.

They will get some help when Mike Matheson returns from his injury, and Joel Edmundson will return at some point, one would hope, but for now, the rookies are being baptized by fire. It’s going to lead to Allen having to stand on his head.

For now, the Habs will keep pushing on through the 2022-23 schedule, but it’s something to keep in mind.