Jordan Binnington flips out after allowing goal, almost fights Marc-André Fleury
Binnington #Binnington
Jordan Binnington just can’t help himself.
Binnington went viral once again on Wednesday when he went after Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman after Hartman had given the Wild a 5-4 lead in the second period. Hartman skated by Binnington as he celebrated, bumping into the fiery netminder and setting off the fireworks.
But as the Blues goalie was being separated from the scrum by officials, Minnesota’s Marc-André Fleury skated the length of the ice, dropping the mitts and squaring up for a potentially epic goalie fight.
The tilt would not happen, though, as officials held the two apart in order to calm things down.
Binnington was assessed a match penalty and was ejected from the contest, accumulating 17 penalty minutes in total. Fleury was given a two-minute minor for leaving his crease, while Hartman served a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Binnington leads all NHL goalies in penalty minutes this season with 27.
NHL Player Safety announced on Thursday that the 29-year-old will have a hearing for his actions.
The tension was bubbling under the surface throughout the game, with the Wild bench chirping Binnington minutes before things turned ugly.
“You just knew he was going to do something at some point,” Hartman said.
“It was a hard game,” Binnington said. “They’re a tough team to play against. They’re hard around the net and I just felt it gets to a certain point … goals were going in, so it was frustrating. I just felt, yeah, that was the moment.”
“Nothing new from him,” Hartman said. “He’s been doing stuff like that for a while.”
The wires crossed once again for Jordan Binnington on Wednesday after allowing five goals in a comeback loss to the Minnesota Wild. (Getty Images)
Fleury felt he needed to step and give his counterpart a taste of his own medicine, especially after he heard that Binnington speared a Wild skater in the first period, as reported by The Athletic’s Joe Smith.
“I felt that was my guy,” Fleury said. “I had to take care of him.”
“It would have been fun,” Fleury added. “The crowd was up on their feet. I never had a fight in my career, so it would have been pretty cool. Too bad.”
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Binnington, never one to back down from confrontation, admitted that he would’ve embraced a showdown at centre ice.
“It kind of felt like it was our moment,” Binnington said.
Not only were the worthy participants looking forward to it, but so were their teammates.
“You just would’ve loved to see it — Binner vs. Marc-André Fleury on TNT,” Brayden Schenn said. “If you’re looking for viewership and ratings and people talking about the game … that’s one way to do it.”
Binnington attempted to hype up the crowd following the skirmish; a curious choice considering he just allowed his fifth goal of the night and squandered a comfortable 3-1 lead after the first period.
“I don’t exactly know what he was doing,” said Ryan Reaves, a former teammate in St. Louis. “He just got buried on, took a five-minute penalty and he’s trying to fire up the crowd? It was a weird time to fire up the crowd. Hey, appreciate the power play I guess.”
For the proverbial cherry on top, Reaves gave the NHL on TNT panel an interview for the ages after the game, wearing no shirt of course, as has become tradition in Minnesota this season.
Minnesota’s offensive onslaught would eventually culminate in a 8-5 win, with Hartman potting two goals and Reaves joining in on the fun with his third marker of the season.