By the time you read this article, the St. Louis Blues could have come back and won this preseason hockey matchup vs. their arch-rival, the Chicago Blackhawks. But the Blues, for the most part, outplayed the Hawks by outshooting them 20-12 in shots on goal and winning 58.1 percent of their faceoffs through the first two periods.
The Hawks also had to block 19 shots through those first 40 minutes compared to the Blues nine, so, clearly, St. Louis outplayed this team. And if you looked at the statistics shown above, you’d probably think the Blues would be in full control, right?
Well, not right, as the Hawks, not the Blues, held the two-goal advantage. Philipp Kurashev and Pat Maroon put Chicago on the board while goaltender Jordan Binnington allowed both scores on those 12 shots, giving him just an 0.833 save percentage.
While it’s just preseason, and the game may not matter a month from now, it’s still striking to see just how poorly the 31-year-old performed tonight against what might be an upstart Blackhawks team. And it won’t do Binnington any good in the confidence department, something he may need this season with Joel Hofer looking to cut into his ice time.
Jordan Binnington off to a rough outing with St. Louis Blues
It’s a long hockey season, so it would only take Binnington a good game or two early in the regular season to gain confidence and go on a roll. But still, you’d rather see him string together some good outings in the preseason to build that momentum early, allowing him to ultimately play some solid hockey in October and November and help his team outplay expectations.
This is why I don’t dismiss the preseason. It’s not like the NFL preseason, when many star players or those who are locks to be on the team play very little, if at all. In the NHL, there are times when players see ice time for the entire game.
As I write this, Binnington ended up on the bench while backup Colten Ellis took over for third period duties. Not a bad move, as the Blues still have a solid handful of preseason games to go, which could allow Binnington to redeem himself and put together at least one good outing.
But if we see another one like this, in which his team was clearly better for the most part, it could foreshadow some early struggles. And if that occurs, Joel Hofer needs to try and do all he can to take advantage of the situation.