Blues goalie Jordan Binnington out for series against Avalanche as teams debate Nazem Kadri’s culpability in play that produced injury

ST. LOUIS — Blues coach Craig Berube on Sunday said goalie Jordan Binnington will miss the rest of the series against the Avalanche with a lower-body injury — believed to be to his right knee.

And all anyone wanted to talk about in the immediate aftermath was whether the play that produced that injury — Avs forward Nazem Kadri and Blues defenseman Calle Rosen’s collision with Binnington 6:45 into the first period — crossed a line.

TNT rules analyst Don Koharski called the contact, coming on a play that saw both Kadri and Rosen vying for a loose puck in front of the Blues goal, an “innocent collision.”

“Unfortunate for Binnington but nothing there. Good non-call,” he said.

But Blues forward Brayden Schenn and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo said Sunday that Kadri — who has a history of suspensions in the playoffs — initiated contact with Binnington.

“You know what you’re doing, yeah,” Schenn said.

Bortuzzo: “You ask any player, a guy like that knows what he’s doing there.”

After Saturday’s game, Berube insinuated Kadri had intent to injure based on his “reputation.”

“Listen, reputation — it doesn’t mean anything. It’s either a legal play or it’s not,” Avs coach Jared Bednar responded. “That D (Rosen) and Naz are both going for a loose puck sitting at the top of the crease, skating in there, downhill, as hard as they can go and both guys go in there. They’re both going after the puck the same way and they collide before they go in.”

The incident happened five minutes after Colorado defenseman Sam Girard absorbed a massive behind-the-net check from Blues forward Ivan Barbarshev. Girard suffered a broken sternum and will miss the rest of the postseason.

“(Binnington’s injury is) unfortunate — same as Girard for me. That’s a legal play. It’s unfortunate but it is what it is,” Bednar said.

Binnington seemed to take exception with Kadri’s play Saturday night. While entering the arena’s medical offices near the Avalanche locker room, he threw a water bottle at Kadri while he was doing a TNT postgame interview.

“I just see a loose puck, really,” Kadri said. “It was kind of just sitting behind him and I just tried to poke it with my stick, and I think their defenseman kind of collided with me and pushed me into (Binnington). So had that not been the case, I don’t think I would have hit him at all. It’s a loose puck. I’m just trying to try to bang it in.”

Binnington is 4-1 in six playoff appearances this spring and leads all NHL goalies with a 1.72 goals-against average (minimum two starts). He is second with a .949 save percentage.

St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong announced the team has added goalie Charlie Lindgren from its AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.

Ville Husso, who began the playoffs as the Blues’ No. 1 goalie, will likely start against the Avs in Game 4 on Monday night. Husso allowed four goals on 23 shots (.826%) in a relief role in Game 3 where Colorado won 5-2 to claim a 2-1 series lead.

Lindgren could get the nod over Husso, who struggled in Games 2 and 3 losses against the Minnesota Wild in the first round. Lindgren has a 24-7-1 record with a 2.21 goals-against average and .925 save percentage in 34 games with the Thunderbirds this season.

He played in five NHL games for the Blues, going 5-0 with a 1.22 GAA and .958 SP.