One of the players St. Louis Blues fans are keeping an eye on this season is Jordan Binnington. With only two seasons remaining on his deal and with Jim Montgomery favoring a two-goalie system, it felt like Binnington had to prove himself to the organization again. He had to show he's still a franchise netminder and that the team shouldn't transition to a two-goalie system. This was only emphasized on opening night when Binnington allowed five goals on 21 shots.
However, Binnington had a nice bounce-back performance in his second start of the season against the Canucks. He made 27 saves on 29 shots, with one of the goals he allowed coming when Vancouver had the man advantage. He also made several hard saves look easy, a sign that Binnington is locked in. It's a good indication that the first game of the season was nothing more than a fluke.
Jordan Binnington's bounce back is great news for the Blues
Coming into this season, the Blues were seen as a fringe playoff team. After sneaking into the finale wild card spot and taking the Jets to seven games, the Blues were hoping to repeat that success in 2025-26. A large part of that plan hinged on Binnington being the Vezina-caliber goalie he's been in the past. If they could clinch one of the wild-card spots and Binnington got hot, there was a good chance they could make a run.
A good goalie can mask other issues on the team. We've seen plenty of teams perform better than expected just because they had a hot goalie. With the Blues having questions at their depth and being an inexperienced young team, struggles are bound to happen. But a good performance from Binnington can mask those problems. It can prevent a prolonged losing streak that sinks the team.
This performance also keeps Joel Hofer on the bench. As mentioned before, Montgomery is famous for running a two-goalie system. Lots of the success he had in Boston came from the play of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark. The thought was that Montgomery would run something similar in St. Louis, and Hofer was part of that plan. Especially after he notched the Blues' first win of the season, stopping 27 of 29 shots against the Flames.
If Binnington can continue his strong play and look more like the goalie he was between 2018 and 2021, it'll make no sense to change things. Hofer can be a good goalie, but nowhere near the caliber that Binnington can be. Why change what's working because it doesn't fit how another team used to play? That's the kind of thinking that can cost teams wins and a chance at the playoffs.
While it's only one game, it's a promising sign. It shows that Binnington can still be the shutdown goalie he's been throughout his career.