St. Louis Blues goaltender Jake Allen will start Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round series against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday (9:30 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVA, SN360, FS-N, FW-MW, FS-WI).
Blues coach Ken Hitchcock made the announcement Wednesday.
Allen has one minute of playoff experience and that came during the 2011-12 season, but the 24-year-old played extremely well down the stretch this season. He finished 22-7-4 with a 2.28 goals-against average, four shutouts, and .913 save percentage in his second season.
Brian Elliott (26-14-3 2.26 GAA, .