Jake Allen gives Blues 'exactly what we needed' in Game 4

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Jake Allen wasn’t that upset that he hadn’t started this postseason.

He wanted to play but he understood the situation that Brian Elliott had performed well enough to merit the No. 1 goaltender position and run with it until Game 4 of the Western Conference Final when Allen entered the series.

“I think that's the nature of the situation me and Ells have been in all year. We played the same amount of games, 40-odd games. We had the two-man system the whole season,” Allen said. “He's been a rock. If it wasn't for him, everyone would agree, we wouldn't be here right now. All the credit to him for getting us here.”

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The 25-year-old Allen entered the series as a motivational tool for coach Ken Hitchcock to give the St. Louis Blues a change in goal and add a different type of mindset. The move seemed to work with Allen stopping 31 of 34 San Jose Sharks shots on goal in his team’s 6-3 win.

“He gave us exactly what we needed. He's a competitive son of a gun. We needed a battler in there. We needed somebody to really help us play better defense. We played with more passion in front of him in our own zone because I made the goalie change. I had to make that decision,” Hitchcock said. “I just felt like we were allowing them too much open space with Ells in there, and Ells was getting bombarded. We needed to just dig in a little bit deeper defensively if we were going to have a chance in this series.”

Allen wasn’t perfect – especially in the third period when he allowed three Sharks goals. But he kept San Jose off the scoreboard long enough for his team to build an insurmountable lead.

“We can’t play a perfect game. We’re not going to keep them to no scoring chances. That’s hockey. They’re a team, they’re going to play too,” Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk said. “We have to realize that and Jake was able to be there and save the puck for us in those key moments. Just like we were being frustrated in the first three games and especially the last two. We knew if we could get those key saves and committed to the right things on offense that we were going to get goals ourselves.”

Before the game, there was a belief that Allen’s ability to handle the puck could help the Blues’ offense by preventing the Sharks from having more zone time. It didn’t really play much of a role in the game's outcome. Instead Allen’s ability to stop the puck was far more important.

Early in the first period, Sharks defenseman Paul Martin drove hard on Allen and the goaltender made the save. San Jose fired 10 shots on goal in the first and Allen stopped all of them.

It was Allen’s first playoff start since Game 6 of the first-round last year when his Blues were eliminated by the Minnesota Wild and he said that experience helped him in this game.

“Didn't feel nervous at all,” Allen said. “I think sitting here and watching these first two rounds, a little bit of the third round, and playing last year, my comfort level is really high. I felt confident out there.”

He said he found out he was going to start after the Blues’ Game 3 loss and then took to the ice Friday to get the feel of some pucks hitting his pads.

"I've been ready. I've been trying to practice as hard as I can. I keep my focus throughout the course of the playoffs. If called upon, give the boys a chance," Allen said. "It was nice to have a four-goal lead when I haven't played in a couple months. A little comforting."

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper