ST. LOUIS -- The NHL's Department of Player Safety suspended Blues goalie Jordan Binnington for two games, without pay, for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties he received against Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman on Wednesday.
A melee ensued with Blues goalie Jordan Binnington (50) when he went after Minnesota's Ryan Hartman (38) just past the midway point of the second period Wednesday night at Enterprise Center.The incident occurred at 12:25 of the second period after Hartman scored a power-play goal to give the Wild a 5-4 lead and made contact with the back of Binnington's legs skating through near the top of the crease to celebrate the goal with teammate Mats Zuccarello. Binnington was assessed a match penalty, on the play, in total receiving seven minutes.
It all nearly culminated with a goalie fight when the Wild's Marc-Andre Fleury came down to challenge Binnington to a fight but was immediately broken up by linesmen David Brisebois and Ryan Galloway.
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and, based on Binnington's $6 million average annual salary, he will forfeit $64,864.86, and the money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
Binnington jumped up and went straight at Hartman, hitting the Wild forward in the face with his blocker still on and stick in his hand, which was the reasoning for the match penalty and for all intents and purposes, being vulnerable to a suspension.
When asked if he was surprised he got a match penalty, Binnington said, "A little bit. I don't think I caught him too clean with my going after him. Like I said, he's pretty good at diving. That's his game and that's totally fine. If they don't want to stay in there and compete until that end, that's fine, but that's it, that's the ref's decision and that's fine.
"It's an emotional game and I'm an emotional player obviously. I care about winning and my teammates. It's going to happen. At this point in the season, it's a fun game, it's a TV game, it's a 10 p.m. start, stay out of bed and see what happens. It was a big matchup, it was a fun and exciting game while I was in net. We'd like to get the win, right?"
With Binnington out, the Blues have recalled Joel Hofer from Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League under emergency conditions.
In 40 games with the Thunderbirds this season, Hofer is 22-14-4 with a 2.50 goals-against average, a .920 save-percentage and four shutouts. Hofer was 1-1-0 with a 3.07 GAA and an .880 save percentage with the Blues last season.