'We don’t do this without Jordan Binnington': Canada's G steals show in final
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Jon Cooper's choice to start Jordan Binnington in the first game of the 4 Nations Face-Off was controversial, but Team Canada's head coach stuck with him for all four games and was rewarded with a championship Thursday.
Binnington turned aside 31 of the 33 shots he faced in the team's 3-2 overtime win against the United States, making a number of key saves in overtime, including on Auston Matthews in tight.
“Binner’s a winner and that’s ultimately what it is,” overtime goal scorer Connor McDavid said, per NHL.com. “He’s won a big game in this building before in 2019. He’s played in big moments. The moment doesn’t get to him.
“He probably made three or four all-world saves early in overtime to allow us to score the goal. All credit to him, honestly. Hopefully some of those haters will back off him because, honestly, he played great.”
“We don’t do this without Jordan Binnington," tournament MVP Nathan MacKinnon added.
The 31-year-old Binnington has a 15-19-4 record with the St. Louis Blues this season with a .896 save percentage and a 2.89 goals-against average.
Cooper said last week he elected to go with Binnington over Adin Hill and Sam Montembeault because of winning pedigree, highlighted by his dominant run to the Stanley Cup in 2019. He stuck with Binnington after a 4-3 overtime win over Sweden in the opener and again after a 3-1 loss to Team USA on Saturday. Binnington held a shutout deep into the third period of Monday's must-win game over Finland before allowing three goals in the 5-3 win.
Thursday's final was clearly Binnington's best game of the tournament, boosting his save percentage to .907 for the tournament after entering with it sitting at .892 after three games.
“It’s different from the Stanley Cup,” Binnington said post-game. “That’s a long journey. This is shorter. This is different but it’s just as powerful. And, I mean, I’m personally just so grateful.
“That’s what sports are all about in some ways. As an athlete and a competitor, there are always going to be doubters. You’ve got to use that as motivation and find a way and believe in yourself that you’ll get the job done.
“Just being around these guys the last few weeks, I feel like it’s elevated everyone’s game. It speaks of how proud we are to be Canadian hockey players, and just finding a way to win with everything going on. You just have to stay with it.”
With another title to his name, Binnington could be the early front-runner to be Canada's starter at the winter Olympics next February.