The New Jersey Devils failed Jake Allen on Wednesday night at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado.
The Colorado Avalanche handed the Devils a 5-1 loss, with Allen facing 36 shots.
“We were in the game because of him,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said to NJD.TV. “We didn’t score enough for him which has unfortunately been the story when Jake has been in for too many games this year.”
The veteran goaltender showed rare emotion as he skated off with 1:42 remaining in the third period. Nico Daws finished the game.
“I had to get him out because he was cramping up pretty good and dehydrated, and such,” Keefe said of Allen.
Over the game’s first five minutes, Allen faced seven shots while his team fired one on opposing goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood. He kept the Devils alive, and it was due to his play in the crease that his team was only down by one goal after 20 minutes.
After two periods, the score remained 1-0. Colorado jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the third period, but Jack Hughes broke Blackwood’s shutout at the 8:28 mark of the final frame.
It wasn’t until the final five minutes that the game unraveled for New Jersey as Nathan MacKinnon, Casey Mittelstadt, and Logan O’Connor found the back of the net for a 5-1 lead.
Afterward, Devils defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic acknowledged during his post-game media availability that his goaltender “was standing on his head in the first two periods.”
As Keefe stated, the Devils’ inability to provide Allen with goal support has been a common theme this season. The 34-year-old’s record of 9-13-1 doesn’t quite tell the story of his play, as his four shutouts are tied for second-most in the NHL behind Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck (six).
Of course, stats are not something the veteran thinks about after spending 12 seasons in the NHL.
“Goaltending stats, to me, is a very conversational piece,” he said to The Hockey News. “I don’t really believe in it a ton. It gives you a baseline, but at the same time, it doesn’t really (paint the whole picture).”
Since Jacob Markstrom’s injury on Jan. 22, Allen seamlessly took over the net, with his play being one of the only consistent elements of New Jersey’s game.
The Devils will travel to Salt Lake City to play the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday night at Delta Center.
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