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Who will be the starting goaltender when the Canadiens meet the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday in a battle for first place in the Canadian Division?
The question must be asked after Jake Allen’s latest tour de force in Montreal’s 2-1 win over the Senators in Ottawa on Saturday.
The Toronto game is the first in a back-to-back set at home with the Edmonton Oilers supplying the opposition Thursday. These situations call for the goaltenders to split the duties and, under normal circumstances, Carey Price would be start against Toronto, which is the more formidable foe.
The problem is Allen, who was brought in to ease Price’s workload, is currently Montreal’s best goaltender.
He proved that Saturday when he made 34 saves to give the Canadiens the victory in Ottawa by a razor-thin margin.
The win left Allen with some of the best numbers in the NHL — a 1.81 goals-against average, a .940 save percentage and a 4-1-0 record. He would have been 5-0-0 if the NHL’s top-scoring team had scored on a night when Allen stopped 31 of 32 shots against Calgary.
