Binnington 'wasn't going to lose' in 4 Nations finale, Blues teammates say

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Brayden Schenn has seen this movie script before.

The St. Louis Blues captain, along with a host of other teammates, got together Thursday to watch the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off between the United States and Canada at TD Garden in Boston.

Seeing the performance of Blues teammate and Canada goalie Jordan Binnington on the same rink where he helped author a 4-1 win against the Boston Bruins as a rookie in Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins -- for St. Louis' first title -- did not come as a shock.

"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."

Binnington stopped 32 of 33 shots against the Bruins in Game 7 in 2019; he stopped 31 of 33 Thursday. Only this time, he made several clutch saves in overtime that were game-savers before Connor McDavid was able to score the game-winner at 8:18 to seal Canada's 3-2 OT win.

Auston Matthews had three chances, and Brady Tkachuk had one that will have those that watched it talking about those particular saves by Binnington for a long time.

"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 [Connor] McDavid, [Nathan] MacKinnon, [Sidney] Crosby, guys like these, and they were able to put it in."

To Blues teammates, it was the Binnington they've all come to know.

"Unreal," forward Jake Neighbours said. "I felt like a kid again just watching him jumping out of my seat watching him make big saves. It was so exciting, so happy for him. Thought 'Beast' [Colton 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.'"

St. Louis coach Jim 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 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 his teammate more than lived up to the moment.

"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. ... he's playing against some of the teams' best and he's able to shut the door on them."