Blues might lose Jordan Binnington for weeks after controversial Game 3 collision

Jordan Binnington’s reclamation of the Blues’ starting goaltending position and the rekindling of his 2019 Stanley Cup performance could be over depending on how long St. Louis remains in the postseason.

There’s no definitive word yet, but reliable sources told The Athletic after Binnington left Game 3 in the first period Saturday following a collision that the team feared it might lose him for multiple weeks with a possible right-knee sprain.

If so, the Blues might have to advance to the Western Conference final or perhaps even the Stanley Cup Final for Binnington to return to postseason action, and perhaps even that would be questionable. The club had no update.

“Being evaluated,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “I wouldn’t know until tomorrow.”

The team has a meeting scheduled for 11:45 a.m. CT on Sunday, followed by a media availability with Berube, so more might be known then.

Binnington left just 6:45 into the game with the Blues leading 1-0. He was replaced by Ville Husso, who allowed four goals on 23 shots, and St. Louis fell 5-2 to Colorado and now trails the best-of-seven series 2-1. Game 4 is set for Monday at Enterprise Center.

After an inconsistent regular season, Binnington reclaimed the job in Game 4 of the Blues’ first-round playoff series against Minnesota and didn’t give it back. He was 4-1 in his five starts since taking over, and including the three saves he made before his exit Saturday, he had stopped 167 of 176 shots against, a .949 save percentage.

Binnington, who led the Blues to the Cup just three seasons ago, was the reason the team was feeling good about its chances of beating the Avalanche in the second round. He put up a 51-save performance in a 3-2 overtime loss in Game 1, followed by 30 more in a 4-1 win in Game 2.

But with an early lead in Game 3 on a goal by Colton Parayko and a crowd of 18,096 cheering on the Blues for the first time in the series, Binnington went down on a controversial collision involving Colorado’s Nazem Kadri. It was a sequence that led to Binnington throwing a water bottle at Kadri after the game, according to The Athletic’s Peter Baugh.

On the play, the Avalanche’s Artturi Lehkonen was barreling down the lane to Binnington’s right and took a shot that the netminder saved. The rebound popped out to the left, and when Binnington slid over to play it, he was run over by Blues defenseman Calle Rosen and Kadri, who appeared to push Binnington’s teammate into him.

Kadri, however, said after the game that he was the one who was pushed.

“I just see a loose puck,” he said. “I was kind of just sitting behind him and just tried to poke it with my stick. And I think their defenseman (Rosen) kind of collided with me and pushed me into him. So, you know, 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 bang it in.”

Here’s another view, though, that seems to show Kadri was not being pushed:

After lying on the ice for a moment, Binnington rose to his knees and teammates huddled around the crease. Blues athletic trainer Ray Barile came out, and after a brief chat, he asked Binnington to perform some side-to-side sliding movements. When he did, it looked like the goalie’s right leg buckled, leading Barile to pull him from the game.

“I’m sure he wanted to stay in and did the best he could,” Berube said. “It wasn’t the case.”

There was no penalty on the play.

“I don’t know (why),” Berube said. “That’s not up to me.”

But when asked about the collision, Berube didn’t mince words.

“Look at Kadri’s reputation. That’s all I’ve got to say,” he said.

Kadri has been suspended by the NHL multiple times, including for his hit on Blues defenseman Justin Faulk in the first round of the 2021 playoffs.

“I’m sure the league will review (the collision) and see,” Blues captain Ryan O’Reilly said. “It’s an unfortunate play; Binner gets hurt. It’s unfortunate.”

Colorado coach Jared Bednar took exception to Berube’s assertion about Kadri’s history.

“Reputation, it doesn’t mean anything,” he said. “It’s either a legal play or it’s not, you know. We’ve talked about this with (Kadri) and the way that he’s trying to change his reputation. Making sure that he’s playing through checks and plays legal or not legal.

“Their D (Rosen) and Naz, they’re both going for a loose puck that’s sitting at the top of the crease. (Kadri) came in there downhill as hard as he could go. Both guys go in there; they’re both going after the puck the same way, and they collide before they go in. Again, unfortunate — the same as (Samuel) Girard for me. That’s a legal play, and you know, it’s unfortunate, but it is what it is.” (Girard suffered a broken sternum Saturday and will miss the remainder of the playoffs.)

Binnington went to the Blues training room for an evaluation and Husso entered the game, playing for the first time since Game 3 of the first-round series against Minnesota, a stretch of 15 days.

Husso gave up a goal to Colorado’s Logan O’Connor on the second shot he faced, which tied the score at 1-1.

“Well, it’s a tough situation,” Berube said. “I thought he did the job.”

In the second period, Kadri put the Avs ahead 2-1 with his second goal of the playoffs, drawing boos from the Blues faithful.

“I’m just focused on what’s happening on the ice and just trying to worry about the guy across from me. So, for me, it doesn’t matter what building I go into,” Kadri said. “I’m going to try to approach the game the same way, and that’s what we did tonight.”

Later in the second period, Kadri assisted on a goal by Lehkonen that gave his club a 3-1 lead; it turned out to be the winning shot. The Blues pulled within a goal, 3-2, when O’Reilly scored with 30 seconds left in the second period, but they were held silent in the third period.

“We had opportunities to win the game tonight, and the goalie (Darcy Kuemper) made some good saves. And there were other plays where we missed the net a little bit or we just didn’t execute on it,” Berube said.

The incident, however, wasn’t over Saturday, even after the final horn.

Kadri was doing a TV interview when a water bottle was tossed at him.

“I think it was Binnington, but I mean, I was kind of a little tied up, so you have to ask him,” Kadri said. “I was doing the interview, so I wasn’t quite sure, but yeah, I think it was him. I don’t know for sure.”

Binnington was unavailable, but The Athletic later confirmed it was him.

With the Avs regaining the series lead, the Blues are expected to be without their starting goalie. But as Berube has done in the past, he’ll move on.

“Get ready for the next game,” he said. “Listen, obviously nobody liked what happened. That’s part of hockey, and you’ve got other people that need to come in and step up and do the job.”

The Blues will likely have to call up a backup for Game 4 on Monday, which would be either Charlie Lindgren or Joel Hofer from their American Hockey League affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds are playing in the AHL postseason.

“Well, we will, yeah, if we need one,” Berube said.

(Photo: Jeff Curry / USA Today)