Should Jake Allen be the New Jersey Devils' starting goaltender?

After a thrilling 2-1 shootout victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, the New Jersey Devils are officially back in a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Despite their struggles over the past month, the team has at least stayed within striking distance of a top-three spot in the Metropolitan Division, although a crown seems less likely with the Carolina Hurricanes pulling away from the pack. The Devils will also have plenty of reinforcements coming back from injury; Brett Pesce returned on Wednesday and immediately provided stability to the defense, Johnathan Kovacevic should be back shortly into the New Year, and Jack Hughes should return on schedule (or possibly before).

Read More: Could Jack Hughes be back for the New Jersey Devils sooner rather than later?

However, because of how tight the standings are, the Devils need to pick up points in any way they can. The aforementioned returning players will definitely help the offense and defense. Still, regarding goaltending, it may be time for New Jersey to start the netminder who gives them the best shot at winning.

While Jacob Markstrom is officially the Devils' starting goalie, their best one this year has actually been Jake Allen.

Jake Allen has been the Devils' best goalie and deserves to be treated like the starter

It is worth mentioning that one of the reasons why Allen chose to return to New Jersey during the offseason was due to having great chemistry with Markstrom. The "Two Jakes" complement each other well as goalies, but that's exactly why Markstrom's status as the starting netminder shouldn't be set in stone.

Allen is 10-7-0 this season with a 2.49 Goals Against Average and .912 save percentage; in direct contrast, Markstrom is 8-7-1 with a 3.56 GAA and .874 save percentage. Needless to say, the stats favor Allen. But there's more to it.

In each of his eight wins this year, Markstrom has a .907 save percentage and 2.56 GAA. The GAA in his wins is passable, even if the save percentage still needs work. But in Allen's 10 wins, he's looked like a Vezina Trophy candidate with a 1.46 GAA and .950 save percentage; those numbers indicate Allen can outright steal games for the Devils even when they're outplayed. Naturally, the numbers in losses for Allen take a nosedive (4.18 GAA, .847 save percentage), but those aren't far off from Markstrom's own numbers in losses (4.48 GAA, .845 save percentage).

When you compare Markstrom's performances to Allen's, and vice versa, the Devils would have probably lost a few of the games started by Allen if they were started by Markstrom instead. Last night is a good example: "Jake The Snake" saved 3.71 Goals Above Expected against Vegas and stopped all three of the Golden Knights' shootout attempts for good measure (Mitch Marner's rebound notwithstanding) to earn New Jersey a hard-fought two points. If Markstrom was in goal for yesterday's game, it wouldn't be far-fetched to say the Devils could lose in regulation due to his erratic play.

Of course, the Devils should still give Markstrom a respectable amount of playing time, as that is the best way to not only get him right but also get him hot. At the same time, the difference between Markstrom and Allen isn't a sizeable gap like the ones between Martin Brodeur and his backups in the past.

But as of now, Allen is clearly the hot hand and the Devils should be putting him between the pipes as much as they reasonably can.