Ken Hitchcock yanks Brian Elliott in Game 3

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Ken Hitchcock was coy when asked about a decision on his team’s Game 4 goaltending starter.

“Yeah, I’m going to think about that one. Got two good goalies. Pretty good choice. Can’t lose on either one,” the St. Louis Blues’ coach said. “But I’ll kind of wait that one out. Kind of sleep on it. Talk to (goaltending coach) Jimmy Corsi, talk to the coaches, see what they think.”

Hitchcock pulled starter Brian Elliott after Tomas Hertl’s second goal put the San Jose Sharks up 3-0 at the 6:09 mark of the third period of the Blues’ 3-0 Game 3 Western Conference Final loss. The three goals Elliott allowed on 14 Sharks’ shots on goal mostly weren’t his fault. They were primarily the result of poor defense by the Blues or high-skilled plays by the Sharks. Hitchcock even noted the decision to yank Elliott in favor of Jake Allen was more to change the momentum in the game, which was still far from over.

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It was unclear if Hitchcock’s comment about “sleeping” on a goaltending decision was serious or in jest. In past playoffs Hitchcock has been known to have an itchy trigger finger between Elliott and Allen.

“I didn’t like the third goal. I thought we needed to catch our breath,” Hitchcock said. “I still honestly thought if we could have got a goal, we still had a chance to come back in the game. I wanted to give us a breath. I didn’t like the coverage on the third goal. I didn’t like the third goal at all.”

He used similar tactics with Elliott after Game 6 against the Dallas Stars. Elliott was pulled after allowing three goals on seven shots on goal and after that game Hitchcock said he’d sleep on the goaltending decision.

Elliott, who holds a .925 save percentage this playoff, won Game 7 with 31 saves on 32 shots on goal. He has started every postseason game for the Blues in 2016.

Pulling Elliott wasn’t the only interesting coaching decision Htichcock made in the third period of Game 3. He also pulled Allen for an extra attacker with over five minutes left. 

“Well, I was told by the new school coaches that I’m to pull the goalie earlier, so I’m just following the analytics,” Hitchcock said. 

St. Louis is down 2-1 in the series with Game 4 on Saturday at SAP Center.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper