St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington will have to be at his absolute best to help take down his counterpart, Connor Hellebuyck and the Winnipeg Jets. ( Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images) [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/b02e2d66-9bc8-436c-8ad4-e4beb24e2f2f.jpeg] St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington will have to be at his absolute best to help take down his counterpart, Connor Hellebuyck and the Winnipeg Jets. ( Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images) MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- It’s come to that time again for St. Louis Blues [http://thn.com/stlouis] goalie Jordan Binnington. The stage is bright, all eyes will be on a series against Vezina Trophy-winning counterpart, Connor Hellebuyck, of the Winnipeg Jets [http://thn.com/winnipeg] and when the lights are at full beam, can Binnington rise to the occasion once again when each and every time, despite being a Stanley Cup champion as a rookie (in 2019) and again, when he performed at peak level for his country and fueled Canada to a 4 Nations Face-Off win against the United States (3-2 in overtime)? The Blues (44-30-8), who finished as the second wild card from the Western Conference, and the Jets (56-22-4), Presidents’ Trophy winners as well as Central Division winners, square off in a best-of-7 first round series starting Saturday and plenty of focus will be on the two goaltenders, who went at it in the series the Blues won in 2019 in six games as well as the 4 Nations final. There’s Hellebuyck, who could very well win the Hart Trophy and be the first since Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens [http://thn.com/montreal] (2015) to win the Vezina and Hart. The Jets goalie was 47-12-3 with a 2.00 goals-against average and .925 save percentage to lead the league in all three categories, including wins. He has all the pedigree when it comes to the regular season but playoffs, it’s a whole different story. He’s 18-27 with a 2.85 GAA and .911 save percentage, including going 2-8 and being eliminated in the first round in each of the past two seasons and has one playoff win the past five years. “Obviously he’s had a tremendous year, he’s a great goaltender,” Binnington said of Hellebuyck. “It’s kind of my, not my job to think about that, right? It’s just focusing on myself and doing what I can to be my best, to give our team a chance to win.” And that’s where Binnington excels. The 31-year-old, who was 13-3-1 down the stretch with a 2.23 GAA and .910 save percentage to finish with a 28-22-5 mark and a 2.69 GAA and .900 save percentage, couldn’t care less about how good or what his counterpart has done. He’s done a great job of locking in and honing in on himself, what he’s done and what he has to do to help the Blues prepare to pull the upset in this series. But make no mistake: when he looks down at the other end and sees who he has to outduel, it’ll be game on. Call him 'Big Game' Binnington. “I think it’s on you, it’s on me to just be the best version of myself,” Binnington said. “I think when you focus on that, you really simplify it and you don’t compare and create outside narratives. I do what I can do and I believe in myself, too, to get the job done.” So do his teammates and his coaches. “It’s what he lives for,” Blues forward Jake Neighbours said of Binnington. “I think as any player, you want to thrive in those big moments, you want to be ready in those big moments and perform for them. In ‘Binner’s case, he enjoys those moments, he relishes them. Obviously in the Cup run, 4 Nations, time after time you see him in big moments, even on our winning streak there and big games trying to get into the playoffs. Just going into the game as a team knowing you have that guy in your crease is so confidence-boosting and just gives you the comfortability to be able to play your game and know, if we do make a mistake, that we’ve got that guy back there to bail us out most times. So, obviously we have to play well in front of him to give him the best opportunity to succeed, but we have all the confidence in the world that he’s going to play like normal ‘Binner’ in these situations.” It’s why when the temperature rises, so does Binnington’s game. In Game 7 of the Cup Final against the Boston Bruins [http://thn.com/boston], he stopped 32 of 33 shots in a 4-1 win, playing spectacular in the first period to give his team a chance. In the 4 Nations championship against USA, Binnington stopped 29 of 31 shots, including several of the highlight-reel variety in overtime to preserve the chance to win for Canada. And on Tuesday needing a win-and-get-in regulation win against Utah Hockey Club [http://thn.com/utah], he stopped 22 of 23 in a 6-1 win [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/three-takeaways-from-blues-6-1-win-against-utah-hockey-club]. When the temperature’s at its highest, he seems to rise to the occasion. “I think because mentally, he has incredibly positive thoughts,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “His self-talk is incredibly positive and he sees himself doing great things in big moments. And it’s a mindset and thank God he’s our goaltender.” When the Winnipeg ‘White Out’ takes full affect on Saturday, it’ll be about intimidation, it’ll be about trying to rattle a goalie’s psyche, it’ll be about trying to shake a foundation to favor the favorite guy they’ve come to love in Manitoba. But one thing about Jordan Binnington is he’s learned to stay in tunnel vision, stay composed under pressure situations and try to perform at peak level, just like when he was a rookie in helping the Blues to a series win in six games that culminated in a Stanley Cup. Come playoff time, it’s an elevated focus and one this goalie has primed himself for in the past. “I think it’s more of the same, just control what you can control,” Binnington said. “It’s the same old story with that. it’s an enhanced environment and a series, so you just have to do your best and regroup after every game, win or loss you regroup and it’s a new game and a new challenge.”
