DENVER – Jordan Binington gave the St. Louis Blues every opportunity to steal Game 1 of the second round of the Western Conference on Tuesday.
The goalkeeper faced a career-high 54 shots in the NHL and made 51 saves, but that was not enough when defender Josh Manson scored in 8:02 overtime to give Colorado Avelanch a 3-2 victory at the Ball Arena.
Binington made it 3-0 with 1.67 goals against the average and 0.943 percent of the save in three games after taking over Ville Husse in game 4 of the first round against Minnesota Wilde.
He was not called to much action in the first period on Tuesday, making eight saves.
Binington, who set a record for NHL rookies with 16 wins to help the Blues win the Stanley Cup in 2019, faced 19 shots in the second period and made 17 saves, then made saves in all 14 shots. faced in the third period before Jordan Kiru scored a goal for a strong game at 16:46 to equalize the match 2-2.
The Blues were killed 12-0 after extra time before Binington was defeated in the 13th shot in Colorado, when he was repulsed by Manson’s strike from the top right.
“He did a good job keeping us in the game,” Blues defender Colton Paraico told Binington. “He gave us a chance to win, that’s for sure. He made a few big stops all night. It was obviously a good chance to win a game in the series, but it obviously wasn’t.”
[RELATED: Complete Avalanche vs. Blues series coverage]
Binington, who benefited from five beams or beams hit by Avalanche in the match, managed to save several times; he started it when he closed the pads in an attempt by Avalanche defender Devon Toews at 7:11 a second.
He then did not allow himself to become 3-1 when he was lying on the ice and managed to destroy the experience of defender Eric Johnson, although Johnson removed it at 7:57.
Perhaps Binington’s most impressive saves came in two consecutive runs when he made a left-footed save in a ground attempt by Nazem Kadri at 9:30 a.m. on the third, then robbed Arthur Lekonen’s attempt to bounce back with a left-handed save. at 9:35.
“Yes, excellent performance; he kept us in the game, “Blues coach Craig Berube told Binington. “The boys were good on the bench. I thought the boys were pretty restrained, and Biner did a great job for us. We all knew that. “
And when Kiru’s goal in the game came into a draw, the Blues had a feeling on the bench that they could steal a match against a team that beat the Nashville Predators in the first round.
It shouldn’t have happened when Manson scored a goal after Binington made a series of saves to Samuel Girard and Kadri moments before Manson’s wrist hit past blue defender Justin Folk and Binington, who didn’t see him.
“Their goalkeeper played really well for them tonight,” said Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog. “You know, [he] made a few rescues that we feel we have empty nets and he pulled out a leg or an arm or whatever. He played really well. “
Avalanche has 106 punch attempts in the game; the blues were 45.
“That’s right, go out there and play for him and try to limit those opportunities against,” Paraico told Binington. “He played amazing. He gave us a chance to win. It was one shot, one goal for each team. We just wanted to play well and play well for him.”
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