The St. Louis Blues at least had Sunday to rest and reflect on a wild, 13-goal game in advance of a road matchup Monday against the Anaheim Ducks.
The Blues earned a 7-6 victory at San Jose on Saturday in a game that was uncharacteristically void of defense for St. Louis. And while it was a rough day to be a goaltender, Blues goalie Jordan Binnington still managed to make an impact … after he was pulled from the game.
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Binnington gave up four goals on 19 shots before he was removed midway through the second period, leaving just after the Sharks grabbed a 4-3 lead. On his way to the locker room, after the early end to his 100th career game, he earned a penalty for shoving San Jose’s Radiem Simek in front of the Sharks’ bench.
Not done making a statement, Binnington raised his blocker and stick into the face of San Jose’s Erik Karlsson near center ice. He then had a confrontation with opposing goalie Devan Dubnyk, with officials breaking up the scrap.
The Blues rallied to score the next two goals and never trailed again, although the Sharks did tie it twice before the Blues finished off the victory.
“That’s kind of the way he is,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “He’s trying to rally the team. That’s what he’s trying to do.”
Said St. Louis’ Zach Sanford, who tied the game 4-4 after Binnington’s electric departure, which went viral on social media: “I think that was good for us. Obviously, he was pissed off and we were pissed off. To see him do something like that and go out with some fire was good for us.”
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Marco Scandella had two goals and an assist for the Blues, while Ryan O’Reilly and Sanford each had a goal and an assist and 10 other players had one or the other.
The Blues were able to end a three-game losing streak and now face a Ducks team that has lost six in a row. The Blues and Ducks also will play at Anaheim on Wednesday.
The Ducks did earn a point in each of their past two games, falling in a shootout Wednesday at Arizona before a 3-2 overtime loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.
There are other positive signs. They forged a pair of three-goal leads at Arizona last week before late defensive collapses. Then they put up a fight against the Golden Knights, as Adam Henrique scored the game-tying goal with nine minutes remaining.
In the chaos that is the 3-on-3 overtime format, the Ducks had a number of quality chances turned away by Vegas goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury before falling when the Golden Knights’ William Karlsson scored 3:23 into the extra period.
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Henrique’s positive contribution came one week after he was placed on waivers, went unclaimed and then rejoined the team after being on the taxi squad.
“I think the whole team was pumped to have (Henrique) back in the lineup,” said Anaheim’s Rickard Rakell, who scored the team’s other goal Saturday. “We were even happier because he was the one who tied the game up for us, so he feels like he’s a part of the progress and helping the team.
“Hopefully, it gives all of us a boost.”
–Field Level Media