EDMONTON, Alberta — The Blues were disciplined. They stuck with the game plan. And they had just enough offense on Saturday afternoon at Rogers Place.
But the story of their 2-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers begins and ends with goalie Jordan Binnington.
“He was exceptional again,” defenseman Nick Leddy said. “He made those key saves when we needed them, and that’s what you need to go deep and have a great year.”
“We knew he’d come in here and put on a show for us,” said D-man Torey Krug, who scored the game’s only goal — with a goalie in the net, anyway. “You can tell when he’s engaged, he’s playing the puck really well. That’s the first sign of that, and he makes the stops when we need it.
“When he’s playing confident, our whole team plays confident and it bleeds throughout our lineup.”
But what made the afternoon even more special was the state of Jordan Binnington the last time the Blues were in this building — on April 1, 2022.
He was slumping mightily at the time, you might recall. He yielded four goals in just 13 1/2 minutes before being pulled in favor of Ville Husso. The Blues rallied for a point in a 6-5 overtime loss, but an exasperated Berube said Binnington simply had to play better.
That was the low point of the season for Binnington — probably the low point of his NHL career. So to return to this place, against this high-powered Oilers team and shut them down, was a statement game for Binnington. And for the Blues’ defense.
He has come a long way since April 1 in terms of putting his game, and his career, back on track.
Outside of the Stanley Cup, would it rank with one of the best games of his career?
“It’s Game 3. Relax,” Binnington said. “Relax.”
A vintage Binnington answer after a vintage Binnington game.
“Every game’s different, man,” he said. “It’s a year ago. A lot happens. You gotta pick yourself up and keep fighting.
“It’s nice to get the shutout, but especially the win. Just having fun on the road and keep building. It was good to see the team just playing together out there and playing for each other.”
Leave it to coach Craig Berube to put into context how Binnington got his game back after that April 1 downer.
“He’s mentally tough,” Berube said. “And he knows what he can do, and he knows what he’s capable of doing. That was just a tough stretch (last year). But he battled out of it, he worked out of it. Work, work, you know? And he was really good down the stretch and in the playoffs.
“There’s no shortcuts. As a pro, any kind of a pro, you gotta keep working at it, no matter how many years you played the game, what you accomplished. Again, discipline and the work, putting it in night in, night out, day in and day out. It’s all about work and it’s all about doing things right and being a good pro.”
Binnington made some tough saves Saturday. Like that one-timer by Evander Kane from the left circle with 11:08 left in the game. Or a second-period wrist shot from the slot where Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had time to tee it up. Or the backhander by Brett Kulak from in close 11 minutes 40 seconds into the first period.
And of course, there were a couple of frantic sequences with Connor McDavid doing his whirling dervish thing behind the net.
“You gotta trust your instincts,” Binnington said.
But when all was said and done, the Oilers launched only a modest 23 shots on goal. Binnington got plenty of help from his defense, be it the actual defensemen or the forwards. The Blues had a very specific game plan on how to keep the lid on the Oilers — specifically McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — and they executed it to a T on Saturday.
“They’re some of the best players in the world,” Leddy said. “The speed that (McDavid) can play at. Draisaitl, the way he can slow the play down and make those plays. They’re two tough guys to play against.
“But if you have that good team defense, and frustrate ‘em as much as you can, it’s a recipe for success.”
Berube told the media prior to the game that he wanted better puck possession and puck management. He wanted discipline in the team’s decision-making. He wanted his players to chip on McDavid and Draisaitl, just a bump here and there to slow them down.
And he wanted the third forward in — the F3 — to guard against the transition breakouts that the Oilers are so notorious for springing on the opposition.
It doesn’t happen very often in hockey, but it all worked out as planned. Almost perfectly.
“It was a real good effort by everybody on the team,” Berube said. “I think that we limited their rush attack by having good F3 and being tight. We checked well tonight. That’s the difference in the game. We checked well.
“And our special teams were 100 percent.”
Krug’s power play goal, on a setup by Vladimir Tarasenko, gave the Blues a 1-0 lead just 5:04 into the contest. It stayed that way until another defenseman — Justin Faulk — scored a long empty-net goal with 62 seconds remaining. They had a huge power play kill as well after drawing their only penalty of the game midway through the third period.
So the Blues are 3-0-0 and have yet to trail this season — not for one second.
When asked if he liked what he was seeing, Berube smiled and said: “I like our game today.”
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