Jake Allen made 35 saves on 37 shots in his New Jersey Devils debut against the Dallas Stars.
It was not the start goaltender Jake Allen wanted in his New Jersey Devils debut, but as the old saying goes, "It's not how you start; it's how you finish."
Dallas Stars forward Wyatt Johnston picked the puck up at the Devils' blue line 11 seconds after the opening face-off. He skated past two New Jersey skaters and shot the puck towards Allen.
A mere 15 seconds into the game, the goal horn echoed throughout American Airlines Center, followed by tens of thousands of fans shouting, "Dallas Stars! Dallas Stars!"
The 33-year-old allowed the game's opening goal on the first shot he faced.
With seven minutes remaining in the first period, Stars' forward Craig Smith turned and fired the puck toward Allen. Unfortunately for the goaltender, the puck went in after hitting his skate to give Dallas a 2-1 lead.
"It's just a simple wrist shot that (Jake Allen) makes a complete mess of."
The Stars' broadcast crew did not hold back when discussing the second goal the New Jersey netminder surrendered, which was his third shot faced.
New Jersey and Dallas skated into the first intermission tied at 2-2.
The veteran remained poised.
After the game, he told MSGN host Erika Wachter that he told his teammates he'd got this the rest of the way.
A true man of his word, Allen put on a clinic over the next forty minutes of play, making 30 straight saves to backstop his team to a 6-2 victory and winning his first game as a Devil.
"I wanted to dig in for this group and make a good first impression," Allen said. "Try to do the best I could do for them."
When handling his post-game media availabilities, the goaltender acknowledged his poor play in the game's opening minutes, saying he felt a little sloppy in the first period.
"My feet felt a little bit off the first 10 minutes," Allen said.
"I've been in this league a long time. I've been through a lot of bad games, been through a lot of good games. I've seen a lot of things and you do what you can do. As soon as a goal goes in, it goes in. There is nothing I can do, whether it is a bar down shot or a shot from the other side of the ice. It is still a goal. You have to put it behind you and regroup."
He credited his new teammates in front of him, saying he was impressed with their effort.
"I thought the guys did a great job. Blocking shots is obviously key in this league. It is important, but also just positionally in good spots defensively, he said. "Coming back to support the puck in our defensive zone, giving our defense outlets, and flipping pucks out. There are a lot of little things that go a long way. I was impressed."
It was impressive to witness Allen's performance turnaround from the first period to the second and third.
"He played great, especially in the last 40 minutes," Erik Haula said. "I think he really settled in and made some really nice saves."
"I just wanted to show the group I was ready to play," Allen said. "I wasn't happy with the first five minutes, but I tried to string together better saves after that."
He tried and succeeded.
Allen and the rest of the Devils will now prepare for back-to-back games this weekend against the Arizona Coyotes and Vegas Golden Knights.
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