We almost had a goalie fight between Jordan Binnington and Marc-Andre Fleury.
Chaos ensued in Wednesday’s NHL game between the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild at the Enterprise Center. The Blues took an early 3-1 lead before the Wild scored three straight unanswered goals to go up 4-3.
After the Wild scored their third straight unanswered goal in the second period, Blues goalie Jordan Binnington tried to mix it up with the Minnesota bench in an effort to spark his team.
After Minnesota scored three unanswered to take the lead, Binnington tried to mix it up with the Wild bench 😳 pic.twitter.com/B8Xlxox4gl
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 16, 2023
Things escalated further several minutes later after the Wild scored a fourth straight goal. Minnesota forward Ryan Hartman bumped into Binnington after scoring on him, and the Blues goalie took exception. Binnington punched Hartman with his blocker, and a scrum ensued in front of the Minnesota net.
With Binnington mixing it up with Minnesota players in the crease, Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury skated down the length of the ice to challenge Binnington. Unfortunately, the linesman prevented us from seeing a Fleury vs. Binnington goalie fight.
Check out the dramatic moment below:
CHAOS!! BINNINGTON GOES AFTER HARTMAN AFTER A GOAL
FLEURY DROPPED THE GLOVES TRYING TO SCRAP 😱 pic.twitter.com/Uwt9w76w48
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 16, 2023
Binnington tried to pump up the crowd with his hands afterward in a “Ric Flair” moment. It was wrestling night in St. Louis, after all. Wild defenseman Alex Goligoski hilariously mocked that gesture after he scored minutes later to put the Wild up 6-4.
Goligoski makes it 6-4, hypes up the crowd to celebrate pic.twitter.com/5YM82BsS4s
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) March 16, 2023
Binnington received a match penalty for his actions, which means he was ejected from the contest. Blues backup goalie Thomas Greiss entered the game as his replacement, and there’s a chance for him to play more with Binnington facing a potential suspension.
It’s unfortunate the linesman didn’t want a Binnington vs Fleury goalie fight, but at least we got one wildly entertaining period of hockey. Binnington is one of the NHL’s greatest villains, and we were oh-so-close to finally seeing him drop the gloves.
The Blues went on to win the game by an 8-4 score in what will become one of the more memorable NHL games of the season. These two teams meet one final time on April 8th, so you can bet most hockey fans will be circling that date on their calendars.
