Blues — Canadian | Jordan Binnington for his saves and nothing else

Jordan Binnington will defend the Blues net on Saturday against the Canadiens. At the risk of disappointing those who hope to witness overflows, his coach wants him to stick to that, defend his net.

We specify it because Binnington is renowned for his hot temper on the ice. On YouTube, there are even compilations of the times he gets into a violent outburst against rivals.

A colleague from St. Louis, however, told us that the Blues asked him to calm down, to use Marc Bergevin’s expression, which Blues head coach Craig Berube essentially confirmed.

“He has the team at heart and he is very competitive. When things are not going well, he sometimes takes matters into his own hands, admitted Berube, after the Blues’ morning training. But a keeper has to be careful. His job is to stop the puck. It was just taking him aside and telling him about it, and he understands. »

However, his teammates would not be angry if there were overflows. “He does it when it’s frustrating. He’s an emotional guy, a competitor and when he does that, it’s a wake-up call for us,” said forward Robert Thomas.

Binnington’s stats this season are nothing to sneeze at. His average is 3.21, his efficiency is .894, and his leading indicators place him in the middle of the pack in the NHL. He is nevertheless the busiest goalkeeper on the circuit. His 30 starts are an NHL high, tied with Connor Hellebuyck.

Misfortune persists

In Binnington’s defence, though, he plays behind an injury-plagued team. The injured are numerous among the Blues and have in common not to be celery feet.

To Ryan O’Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko, Torey Krug and Marco Scandella was added Nick Leddy on Saturday morning. Berube hasn’t revealed anything about him, but either way, his absence means American League veteran Steven Santini will play his first game of the season in the big leagues.

In Krug, Leddy and Scandella, it is therefore half of the Blues’ defensive brigade that will be missing.

“We continue to score goals, which is good,” said Berube. But without O’Reilly, it changes the confrontations, because he is very good at neutralizing opponents and shorthanded. But we have guys who are stepping up and doing a good job in that role. Our wounded had different roles. Tarasenko scores goals, Krug too, especially on the power play. But the numerical advantage still continues to work. »

Tarasenko was indeed having an interesting season (29 points in 34 games) before getting injured. It’s less clear, however, for O’Reilly, whose -28 rating is the worst in the NHL, an anomaly for a Selke Trophy contender year after year.

Despite those absences, the Blues are holding their ground, going 7-2-3 in their last 12 games, which has seen them come back from a dismal first third of the season. Casually, they are only three points from the last place giving access to the playoffs.