St. Louis’ Halak re-aggravates groin pregame vs. Kings, Elliott starts

On Sunday, the Blues took Jaroslav Halak (groin) off injured reserve.

One day later, it appears he might be headed back on.

That was the story out of St. Louis on Monday as the Slovak netminder re-aggravated his groin injury during warmups for tonight’s contest against Los Angeles, Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The development forced Brian Elliott into action, which no doubt tweaked Ken Hitchcock. The Blues head coach had been vocal in his displeasure with Elliott’s play as of late, saying “he’s got to be better” while suggesting that, if Halak was unable to play tonight, he would’ve gone with rookie netminder Jake Allen between the pipes.

Just one problem — when Halak cleared IR, Allen was sent back to AHL Peoria.

In Elliott’s defense, he has played reasonably well in the opening frame against Los Angeles, allowing just one goal on seven shots.

Kings forward Jeff Carter scored midway through the period for the game’s lone marker thus far.

Rutherford reports that St. Louis will update Halak’s condition following tonight’s game.