ST. LOUIS -- Jake Allen made an appearance on the ice with teammates after sustaining back spasms last week, getting out on the ice sooner than expected.
Allen was originally scheduled to miss 10-14 days after injuring his back during off-ice training but not feels he could be ready to play as early as Sunday in the fourth preseason game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
"I'm just taking it a little slow right now," Allen said. "Nothing crazy. Obviously it was just a short morning skate, but just get out and take a few shots. More or less practice speed.
"I haven't had a group skate since Sept. 1st, so it's been a while. So it's really going to be more or less timing and getting my feet back under myself before we get really going here."
Allen has skated on his own before everyone else, just getting pads on and going through some sort of a routine, but, "that was the first time getting some shots and stuff.
"I feel like I'm progressing well. I'm not the expert here. I'm sort of going by what my body is telling me and I'm relaying it to the therapist and going from there. We're trying to kill this thing before the season starts. I don't want this thing to be a nagging thing for me throughout the year."
Blues coach Mike Yeo calls it good news.
"He took some shots and getting loosened up, so it's a good sign," Yeo said. "We didn't anticipate him not being able to get on the ice for a long period of time, so it was good to get him back out there."
