Once again, Team Canada found themselves in a hole early in an elimination game in the 2026 Winter Olympics--this time against Team Finland. They managed to dig themselves out, though, just like they did against Team Czechia the other day. That means St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington can add another Olympic win to his stat sheet, though it was yet another shaky performance from the veteran in Milan.
Binnington allowed the first goal of the game on an absolute snipe from Finnish winger Mikko Rantanen, putting the Finns up 1-0. Then, early in the second, Binnington allowed a shorthanded breakaway goal to Erik Haula. Both were difficult scoring opportunities for Binnington to stop, but at the end of the day he allowed two goals on a measly 17 shots--that's an .882 save percentage (SV%).
The Canadian coaching staff has demonstrated their trust in Binnington throughout the tournament, going back to his shutout in the first game of the preliminary round, through the Canadians' overtime victory against Czechia earlier this week. It's worth noting, though, that Binnington didn't have his best showing against Czechia, either, posting an .875 SV% after turning away 21 of 24 shots on goal. Both are an improvement on his regular season .862 SV%, but one would imagine it would take more than a sub-.900 SV% to win an Olympic Gold Medal.
We keep waiting for the other shoe to drop with Binnington, as he's had a disastrous regular season and Canada's had to come from behind to win in two consecutive elimination games. It seems that, to Canada's coaching staff, it hasn't how you win, it's that you just win. The Gold Medal game is on Sunday, and Binnington has given them no reasons to make a change in the starter's crease; he has their complete trust at the moment, despite the underwhelming regular season and a couple wobbly games. Let's just hope that trust in Binnington doesn't burn the Canadians when it matters most.