St. Louis Blues netminder Jordan Binnington let his emotions get the best of him on Wednesday night and is now facing repercussions for his actions.
After the Minnesota Wild went up 5-4 in the second period, Binnington approached forward Ryan Hartman who just scored a powerplay goal and swung his blocker at Hartman’s face. On Thursday, the NHL handed the 29-year-old a two-game suspension as a result.
Here’s a look at the play, which got Binnington tossed immediately. Via BR Open Ice:
CHAOS!! BINNINGTON GOES AFTER HARTMAN AFTER A GOAL
FLEURY DROPPED THE GLOVES TRYING TO SCRAP š± pic.twitter.com/Uwt9w76w48
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 16, 2023
As you can see, Wild keeper Marc-Andre Fleury took exception and made his way down the ice, ready for a full-on scrap before the officials stopped him. Absolutely epic scenes in St. Louis, with the Wild eventually winning 8-5.
Post-game, Jordan Binnington revealed that he was surprised to be ejected, per TSN:
āA little bit. I donāt think I caught him too clean with my [blocker] going after him,ā Binnington said. āLike I said, heās pretty good at diving. Thatās his game and thatās totally fine.
“If they donāt want to stay in there and compete until that end, thatās fine, but thatās it, thatās the refās decision and thatās fine.ā
Hartman meanwhile, had some choice words for Binnington and said he’s been a dirty player for years:
āI mean, those blockers arenāt soft,ā Hartman said post-game. āWe donāt have much protection on our face. Iād say so [it was a cheap shot]. Itās nothing new from him. Heās been doing stuff like this for a while.ā
Binnington was clearly frustrated at the moment because, after all, it was the fifth goal he’d conceded on 24 shots. But, it’s certainly not a good look to blindside an opponent like that.
Binnington will be eligible to return next Tuesday against the Detroit Red Wings and is set to miss the next two Blues’ games versus Washington and Winnipeg. He has a 22-24-5 record and .892 save percentage in 2022-23.