SEATTLE — In two games so far this season, Jordan Binnington has allowed five goals. But in Saturday’s victory over Columbus, one puck went off the face of teammate Colton Parayko before landing on a Blue Jackets stick for a tap-in. And in Wednesday’s win over Seattle, one was deflected in by Torey Krug and another barely squeaked in after Binnington made the initial save on a Kraken breakaway.
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One could make the case that the Blues’ starting netminder has been on the hook for only two of the five, and there were mistakes made in front of him on those, too.
Anyone who’s watched the team’s first two games knows that Binnington has been solid, and without his 32 saves on Wednesday, the Blues don’t walk out of Climate Pledge Arena with a 4-3 overtime win.
Binnington is 2-0 with a 2.46 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage. But what’s remarkable is that in his two games, he’s stopped 10 of 11 high-danger chances, including all seven he faced against Seattle.
“We had to rely on our goaltender a lot,” Blues forward Brayden Schenn said. “He made a lot of big saves, timely saves, key saves. If it wasn’t for him, we’re probably not winning the hockey game.”
“Yeah, without him, it’s over,” Blues defenseman Justin Faulk added. “We weren’t playing good at all as a group, and he stood tall. A lot of chances, a lot of Grade-As, that we gave up. He did his thing, and that’s what we expect of him. But he’s obviously doing well.”
Binnington began Wednesday night with a dandy on Seattle’s rookie of the year candidate, Matty Beniers.
Streeeeetttttccchhh. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/m493JpXRaM
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) October 20, 2022
In the second period, with the Blues leading 3-1, Binnington did the splits to make a sprawling leg save on the Kraken’s Carson Soucy.
“Yeah, I was on the ice for that one,” Schenn said. “I thought that one was in, but he’s quick, reading the play well.”
JORDAN BINNINGTON MY GOODNESS. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/EZ9P4mTjCL
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) October 20, 2022
As Binnington told The Athletic in the preseason, he’s learning to play with “love,” and without a chip on his shoulder.
“Just enjoying the moment, just trying to find a way, and stay focused throughout the game,” he said after Wednesday’s game. “I feel calm.”
Schenn used a different word and mentioned it multiple times after Wednesday’s game.
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“He’s determined this year,” Schenn said. “It’s just … it’s confidence. He has a little swagger to him. But you talk about all of that, and I don’t think everyone sees how hard he works. He’s determined this year. He’s doing stuff before, he’s doing stuff after, and a majority of guys have to do that to be at their best. (But) he’s putting in the extra effort this year, and through two games, it’s showing.”
Binnington bailed out the Blues, who have given up two-goal leads in both games this season. On Saturday against Columbus, they had a 2-0 lead; on Wednesday, it was 3-1.
Seattle was able to tie the game on goals by Ryan Donato and Adam Larsson.
Binnington made the initial save on Donato, but the Kraken forward scored on the second effort.
“I know he finishes hard,” Binnington said. “He doesn’t give up on plays. It’s kind of what happened there. First save, and he stayed with it, and I wasn’t in a good position to get that rebound.”
Here’s Donato’s goal #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/PdOw3dgNF7
— Alison (@AlisonL) October 20, 2022
“He had it under his pads and the ref was right there,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “I’m not sure what’s going on in the referee’s mind. Maybe he saw a better view of it, that he didn’t think it was frozen good enough.”
But on the play, Blues defensemen Parayko and Nick Leddy were both below the dots in the offensive zone, leaving Vladimir Tarasenko the lone player back to defend on the breakaway.
“We were a little bit too involved with our D and we gave up a breakaway and a goal,” Berube said. “We had a little bit too much activation with our defensemen, in my opinion, with our defense in the offensive zone tonight, and we got burnt on it.”
Binnington and the Blues also got burned on Larsson’s goal, an innocent point shot that went in off the stick of Krug.
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“The tying goal, like it’s something that doesn’t happen very often,” Berube said. “It happens. It’s a reaction thing. It’s unlucky.”
Unlucky, but the Blues were outscored 2-0 in the second period, and in their two games this season, it’s a combined 4-1.
“More than anything, for me, is we’ve got to stop turning pucks over so much,” Berube said. “We always want to make a play, and again, we’ve got to simplify our game. That’s the one thing I’m going to take away from here tonight. We’ve got a good veteran team that we’re not going to panic or anything like that, but we’ve definitely got to be better.”
The Blues didn’t panic and won on Faulk’s second goal of the game, set up by Tarasenko for his third point of the game.
FAULK YEAH, GOOD NIGHT. pic.twitter.com/o0RZryML5P
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) October 20, 2022
Robert Thomas, who had a terrific night, set up the game-winner with a no-look pass to Tarasenko in front. Tarasenko had the puck all alone but dropped it back to Faulk for the shot.
“He was yelling at me, saying I was calling for it,” Faulk said. “He’s more than capable (of scoring on that play), but good play by him.”
“I think he was in too tight,” Berube said. “I don’t think he had a good enough opportunity to score. He made a good play.”
Somewhat quietly, Tarasenko now has five points (two goals, three assists) in two games. With the Blues having only had two outings, that doesn’t give him a chance to be among the overall point leaders in the NHL, but he is second in the league in points per game (2.5), behind Chicago’s Jason Dickinson, who has three points in one game.
“He’s always going to find the scoresheet,” Schenn said. “He’s a point producer that’s been doing it for a lot of years, so I don’t think we’ve got to be shocked that he’s doing it.”
Tarasenko didn’t score Wednesday, but he did have four shots on goal and leads the Blues with eight.
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“He’s getting his looks, he’s getting his shots and he’s making plays with the puck,” Berube said. “He’s playing an unselfish game, in my opinion, moving the puck. He made some good plays tonight. He’s doing what he does.
“I think teams are going to key on him. They’re not going to give him shots all the time, so there’s going to be other people open, and he’ll make the play. He can make plays.”
Through two games, despite the record, the Blues realize they haven’t been great.
“We’re a little behind the eight-ball on games played, but we know we need to pick up our pace and do it the whole game,” Faulk said.
But with Binnington’s performance early on, plus an offense that has had seven players score a total of nine goals in two games, and doing it without Pavel Buchnevich (lower-body injury) Wednesday, they’ve got four out of four points thus far.
“(But) it doesn’t stop,” Binnington said. “You can’t think about that for a second. You’ve got to keep your head down — keep building. It’s early and we’ve got to come together as a team. We can be better. I think we can have some stronger second periods — all of us included.
“It’s been an interesting schedule. We’ve had to find ways to stay in game shape, and that’s not easy, and I think we’ll keep getting better as the games come along.”
(Photo of Jordan Binnington: Jon Durr / USA Today)
