MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Brayden Schenn played in this movie. Jake Neighbours felt like a giddy kid cheering for his big brother. Jim Montgomery wasn't shocked.
That was the going consensus for Jordan Binnington's performance on Thursday when Canada claimed the championship at the 4 Nations Face-Off at TD Garden in Boston when Connor McDavid's overtime goal was the difference in a 3-2 win for Canada against the United States.
Think about it: a winner-take-all game, in Boston, this very same building, for all the marbles. Sound familiar?
"Just knew he wasn't going to lose in that building in a one-gamer," Schenn said. "... But 'Binner,' back in his element and looked calm, made the big saves, a couple big (ones) early and obviously stepped up in overtime and helped them win."
Let's go back to June 12, 2019, Game 7, Stanley Cup Final. The Boston Bruins had just lambasted the Blues, 6-1, in Game 6 in St. Louis, taking the Cup Final game to a winner-take-all game. The Blues were suddenly thrust into the David role facing Goliath.
Binnington led the 'David' clan that night with 32 of 33 saves, many great ones in the first period giving his team a chance, and once the Blues took a 2-0 lead before turning in a masterclass defensive performance led by their goaltender, it culminated into a 4-1 win and first Stanley Cup for St. Louis in its history.
Fast forward to Thursday. Another winner-take-all game, same building, this time playing for his country after basically being all but ridiculed by those counting on him. Bend but don't break, which Binnington once again did, and in the end, it was 31 saves on 33 shots, and this time, many of the clutch ones came in the overtime period when any one of them could have crushed Canada's dreams.
But this guy has ice in his veins. It doesn't matter who poo-poo's him, doesn't mind what anyone says about him. Binnington shut the door down. Ask Auston Matthews, who easily could have scored an overtime hat trick. Ask Brady Tkachuk, even from a sharp angle off one of those Matthews saves, found the winner suddenly on his stick.
Once again, not this time, not on this day.
"He just gets in those in-the-zone moments," Schenn said of Binnington. "It feels like he's not going to be beat. Just that point-blank save on Matthews who's, whatever, I'll call him a top-three goal-scorer in the League with a slot chance, the save on Brady. It just felt like he was in a zone and when you make some saves like that, big boys on his team obviously feel like he's giving his team a chance to win and it just takes one chance and for McDavid, [Nathan] MacKinnon, [Sidney] Crosby, guys like these, and they were able to put it in."
Binnington's Blues teammates were gathered together, Canadians, Americans, whatever nationalities each is, to watch the game, to watch Binnington and Colton Parayko, who also has his fond moments of TD Garden, battle for a championship.
"Unreal. I felt like a kid again just watching him jumping out of my seat watching him make big saves," Blues forward Jake Neighbours said. "It was so exciting, so happy for him. Thought 'Beast' [Parayko] played great too, but obviously 'Binner' making some huge saves in overtime and late in the game, it was fun to watch. It looked like vintage 'Binner.'"
So why was this vintage 'Binner?' Why was this the kind of game he thrives in? Why are these the games he continues to thrive in? If you combine this with the Game 7 win against the Dallas Stars in the second round (29 of 30 saves in a 2-1 double OT win), Binnington has stopped 92 of 96 shots (.958 save percentage).
"He enjoys the big moment," Schenn said. "He's relaxed, he's calm, and he's able to elevate his game. He was hearing it for a full year: Canada doesn't have a goalie, and this and that about goaltending all over the world. But he proved a lot of people wrong. I thought he had a really good tournament and then stepped up in a big game when he needed to. Happy for him."
Montgomery said, "it was awesome to see 'Binner.' He's so clutch."
Montgomery and the Blues coaching staff had gotten together to watch the game on their own Thursday and expected such a performance.
"We did," he said. "All of us have seen it, in the 2019 run and the other playoff rounds for sure."
Binnington was the only goalie to play in every game representing his country in the tournament, and Schenn said that the criticism Canada had received leading into the tournament and for Binnington, should silence the critics.
If it doesn't, then what will?
"It should. He's facing the U.S., who has dominant scorers and a dominant team," Schenn said. "He's able to let in two goals each game against a dominant team like that. Once you add Russia back into the mix and Czechs and other teams but still obviously a lot of good players that got left out, but he's playing against some of the teams' best and he's able to shut the door on them."