Blues head coach: Binnington’s antics have ‘got to stop’
Binnington #Binnington
St. Louis Blues head coach Craig Berube seems to be tired of Jordan Binnington’s antics after the goaltender stirred up more trouble Saturday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“It’s got to stop. It doesn’t help anything,” Berube told reporters after his side’s 6-2 loss, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Seth Rorabaugh. “Just play goal. Stop the puck.”
Binnington was handed a 10-minute misconduct for inciting early in the second period of Saturday’s contest versus the Penguins after letting in Pittsburgh’s fourth goal of the game.
The Blues pulled Binnington from the contest, and he had some words for the Penguins as he skated by their bench.
Here’s a closer look at the incident:
Per the rulebook, a player can receive a game misconduct if he “persists in any course of conduct (including threatening or abusive language or gestures or similar actions) designed to incite an opponent into incurring a penalty.”
It was quite the evening for Binnington, who avoided a penalty after hitting Penguins forward Jason Zucker in the face with his glove late in the first period.
Officials initially assessed Binnington a four-minute penalty for high-sticking but reversed the call after a review showed he hit Zucker with his glove instead of his stick, per The Athletic’s Rob Rossi.
But Zucker got his revenge in the second period, netting the fourth goal that ended Binnington’s night early.
The hot-headed netminder made 13 saves on 17 shots in the contest. He’s posted an .895 save percentage and a 3.27 goals against average to go along with a 9-10-0 record so far this season.
Binnington, 29, memorably made headlines during the Blues’ second-round series against Colorado in May after throwing an empty water bottle at former Avalanche player Nazem Kadri’s head while the forward was giving a postgame interview.