Why starting Jordan Binnington in Game 4 could be exactly what the Blues need

Go back to the Cup winner now.

Jordan Binnington has suddenly become Jake Allen.

And I’m not talking about the latter stages in Allen’s time with St. Louis, where he transitioned into a backup role when the nobody (at the time) Binnington broke out of the box in 2019. This particular Allen being discussed is the one who started for this team after Brian Elliott was traded. The Allen who was great, and then rough, and then decent again.

He was more polarizing among Blues fans than Patrik Berglund ever could be, because goaltenders are pariahs in this town. Good or bad, they are discussed and beloved before being ripped and torn down.

Binnington is now in that spot. The honeymoon glaze on his Stanley Cup heroics three years ago seems foggy to Blues fans these days. It’s a “what have you done for me lately” world in professional sports, especially as NHL hockey catches up with baseball in the analytics department. People can see how tough Binnington was on shooters and opponents then, and can also witness how far he has fallen.

The 2021-22 season wasn’t the kindest to Binner.

He started 37 games and collected two shutouts, but posted a 3.13 goals against average and 90% save percentage. Those aren’t deplorable numbers, but certainly down from the past three seasons. Few expected him to maintain the torrid second half pace of the 2018-19 season, but the performance has declined further each year. Just look at the GAA: 1.89, 2.56, 2.65, 3.13.

Binnington’s activity was inconsistent over the second half with Ville Husso’s breakout in net, but he did start seven games in April. After getting pulled in an April 1st start in Edmonton, he fired off high quality starts in four of the next six games. All of this is being presented to set up the fact that I think Binnington should get the start in net today.

Here’s the thing. This has nothing to do with Husso, who has been left out to dry by his teammates during the series. He’s kept games as close as a goalie could before the crippled defense and clueless penalties begin to stack up. The Blues have already lost Robert Bortuzzo, Torey Krug, and Nick Leddy this series. Let’s not forget their defense was a trainwreck for most of the season, before Leddy arrived to shore it up.

What the Binnington switch for Game 4 would do is provide two things: an attitude adjustment and mental boost for the entire team, and a chance to see what JB50 can do in a playoff game. It hasn’t been the easiest trek for him since the Lord Stanley run. He split good and bad performances in the Colorado series last spring, and didn’t look good in the pandemic-truncated 2019-20 follow-up.

For some weird reason that can never be explained without growing a headache, the team gets a raw boost with a different face in net after a couple games of struggling. Having a Cup winner between the pipes, someone who has been in the trenches of playoff hockey with his back against the wall. Binnington has been there and could help the team get out of the gate.

It’s not like Husso has to start every game, or is entitled to it. Nice season and all, but there’s a chance he’s not even a Blue next year if the Blues don’t retain him. Binnington on the other hand is here for the duration, with a contract paying him $6 million annually. No trade partners will come near that contract, so it would be a waste to not give him a look in this series.

The right time to do that with a veteran goaltender is with the team down 2-1 and in need of a real boost. That will feed into Binnington and crank up the adrenaline. That could get the confidence department awakened and fully staffed for the first time in months. He found a stroke of lightning during a four game stretch last month, so it isn’t like he hasn’t been good in a while.

Binnington just needs a chance to save the day, or steer the ship to safer waters. The Blues should grant him that opportunity.