The St. Louis Blues will be without captain David Backes and goaltender Jake Allen for the rest of the regular season, the club announced Monday. Both have lower-body injuries.
Allen has struggled with injuries throughout the season, and left injured after one period Sunday, stopping all 11 shots he faced. His injury is unrelated to his previous one. Backes has yet to miss a game this season. Both will be re-evaluated once the regular season ends.
Backes finishes the season with 21 goals and 24 assists in 79 games. He's a free agent on July 1.
Backes is hurt, can't play, it's not precautionary.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) April 4, 2016
Allen's campaign concludes as the best of his career. He went 26-15-3, finishing with a .920 save percentage and six shutouts - both personal highs.
The Blues have dealt with an absurd number of injuries in 2015-16, so it's no surprise this is the way their 82-game campaign comes to an end. But they're still in the hunt for the Central Division title, trailing the Dallas Stars by two points. The Blues have three games left, the Stars two.
Hitchcock on Backes / Allen: "Believe me, if they were able to play, they'd be playing." #stlblues
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 4, 2016
The playoffs begin April 13. The Blues will be there.
