St. Louis Blues What To Watch For Preseason Game 2 At Washington

St. Louis Blues goalie and world-renowned flatliner Jordan Binnington is set to make his first appearance this season against the Washington Capitals in tonight’s game.

Jordan Binnington’s first 2019-20 appearance with the St. Louis Blues is what we have been waiting for all offseason. The highly anticipated season debut comes on the heels of his breakout season last year and a recent controversy where he addressed wearing sunglasses inside during the ESPYs.

While I might be overhyping a preseason appearance, his performance in these exhibition games does matter. Even though some may say he proved himself last season, he is not that far removed from being the overlooked goalie known for fighting opposing netminders in the AHL.

I know what you are thinking. Yes, 24-5 with a .927 save percentage and a 1.89 goals-against average speaks for itself. He was phenomenal. Unfortunately, the pessimist in me asks: What if that was just a prolonged hot streak?

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If it was, in fact, a prolonged hot streak, Binnington could easily come out in the preseason with subpar play that puts doubts in the minds of both coaches and fans alike. Doubts create a perceived “goaltender controversy” putting the Blues back in an all too familiar goalie flux.

There is one thing that will avoid this scenario. Binnington needs to come out in the preseason to show us that he is whom we think and hope he is. If he can come out and continue the high-level play from last season, there will be no doubts.

If Binnington leaves us any reason to doubt his performance, it could potentially create pessimists. The type of pessimists that lead Blues fans to take their favored goalie’s side and ends in a full-blown goalie controversy. Sound familiar?

This first preseason appearance matters for the Blues, Binnington, and the fan base. It is his opportunity to end any rumblings of a goalie controversy before they even begin. Additionally, it would be the first time the Blues had a solid, well-defined number one goalie since Jaroslav Halak played 57 games in 2010-11.

Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Zach Sanford, Vince Dunn, Tyler Bozak, Carl Gunnarsson, and Colton Parayko also make their 2019-20 season debuts tonight. They will be combined with rookies Mitch Reinke, Alexey Toropchenko, and newly acquired Dakota Johnson.

Personally, I hope to see the main contributors take a back seat in this game to some of the rookies. Like Jason Martin talked about in his August article, a guy like Mitch Reinke really needs the time and performance to reaffirm his status as a top prospect. It would also allow the main contributors to ease back into game action after a short offseason.

With that being said, I would love to see the Blues take this time to take a hard look at the talent that is on its way to the NHL. Even more than that, I would love to see Jordan Binnington silence the hypothetical future haters with a spectacular preseason.