The St. Louis Blues will look to even the best-of-7 series with the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4, but they will have to do it without Jordan Binnington between the pipes.
Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri collided with Binnington in the first period of Game 3, causing the Blues goalie to leave the game with a lower-body injury.
On Sunday, Blues Head Coach Craig Berube ruled Binnington out for the remainder of the series. Binnington was 4-1 with a 1.72 goals-against average and a .949 save-percentage in the postseason.
Ville Husso, who opened the playoffs as the Blues' starter, is expected to be back in between the pipes for the Blues in Game 4.
Charlie Lindgren, who went 5-0 for the Blues in December, was recalled from the AHL's Springfield Thunderbirds under emergency conditions.
"It's an unfortunate injury and at the same time, we have full confidence in Ville," Blues forward Brayden Schenn said. "(Binnington and Husso) have had the net at times this year and both guys are very capable of winning hockey games. We're looking forward to seeing what Ville can do and when he's in the net, we're just as confident with 'Binner' there and (we've) just got to play hard in front of them."
"We've moved on from it," Berube added about the Binnington/Kadri incident. "I don't really want to talk about it anymore because it doesn't do anything to talk about it anymore. We've got to get focused for (Game 4), and focusing on that play and focusing on Kadri doesn't help our team."
NOTEWORTHY STATS
- David Perron became the first Blues player to score seven goals through first eight playoff games of a postseason since Shayne Corson did it for the Blues in 1996. Perron has 20 goals in the playoffs as a Blue, which ranks seventh on the club's all-time list.
- Nick Leddy has appeared in 127 career postseason games - the most of any Blue.
- Vladimir Tarasenko will tie Jaden Schwartz for fifth in franchise history in playoff games played (88) in Game 4. Tarasenko is just two points away from leaping Al MacInnis (58) for third in franchise history in postseason points.
THEY SAID IT
Craig Berube, on whether he would like to see retaliation against Kadri: "Nope. We're here to win. That's it. Just go try to win."
The St. Louis Blues and Colorado Avalanche will have to work through major injury concerns as their second-round Western Conference playoff series continues Monday.
The Avalanche lead the best-of-seven series 2-1 after winning 5-2 in Game 3 Saturday. Game 4 will be played Monday in St. Louis.
Colorado lost defenseman Samuel Girard for the rest of the playoffs due to a broken sternum. He suffered the injury on a big hit into the end boards by Blues forward Ivan Barbashev early in the first period.
Then the Blues lost starting goaltender Jordan Binnington to a knee injury suffered when Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri and Blues defenseman Calle Rosen crashed into him. The Blues, who led 1-0 at the time, appeared deflated after Binnington hobbled off.
"Obviously, 'Binner' is the heart and soul, playing unbelievable," Blues captain Ryan O'Reilly said. "I think it kind of took the momentum away and took us a little too long to kind of get it back going again. Things like that happen. We're a deep team, and we could have done a better job of getting the momentum back and adjusting."
Binnington, who is 4-1 with a 1.72 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage in six playoff games, has been ruled out the rest of the series. Ville Husso replaced Binnington Saturday and allowed four goals.
"No goalie likes traffic, so we tried to do that as much as we could," said Avalanche forward Logan O'Connor, who started the scoring surge against Husso with a clean break-in. "We'll probably reassess, depending on what happens with their goaltending situation. We'll look a little deeper into the strengths and weaknesses of (Husso's) game."
Husso likely will start Game 4 and be backed up by Charlie Lindgren, who arrived from Springfield of the AHL on an emergency recall.
"We have two real good goalies, and Husso's been unbelievable for us all year long," Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said. "That's the beauty of those two. Two great goalies keep us in every single game, give us a chance to win, and that's all we can ask for."
Husso began this postseason as the Blues' starter before Binnington replaced him during the first round. Husso is 1-3 with a 3.38 GAA and .891 save percentage during the postseason.
Blues coach Craig Berube said the Blues must rally behind him rather than seek vengeance on Kadri.
"We've moved on from it," Berube said Sunday. "I really don't want to talk about it anymore because it doesn't do anything to talk about it anymore. We've got to get focused for tomorrow's game, and focusing on that play and focusing on Kadri doesn't help our team."
Girard played 20 or more minutes in five of the first six Colorado playoff games. He scored a goal and earned two assists in seven games. In his absence, Bowen Byram and Erik Johnson will have to carry a bigger load.
His injury is a major blow to the Avalanche, but Colorado coach Jared Bednar didn't complain about the legality of Barbashev's hit.
"Looking back on it, I mean, it's a heavy collision," Bednar said. "He just catches him in a bad spot. But I thought it was legal check, to be honest with you. He kind of goes in on his head side, but he got a lot of body there. (Girard) was turned the wrong way, and he went in awkward, and it was a heavy check."
Ville Husso will be back in between the pipes Monday as the St. Louis Blues look to even the best-of-7 series against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4 (8:30 p.m. CT, TNT, 101 ESPN).
Husso will be making his first start since Game 3 of the first-round series against the Minnesota Wild.
The team announced Sunday that Jordan Binnington will miss the rest of the series due to a lower-body injury.
"Obviously Binner's playing great, but Ville is very capable of playing good hockey - and has all year," Brayden Schenn said. "And his confidence has only gotten better the amount of days he's been in the NHL, year-by-year. I'm sure he's looking forward to the challenge."
"As a team we know what we got back there (in goal)," added Robert Bortuzzo. "So we're very comfortable."
Below is a projected lineup for Game 4 based on the morning skate.
PROJECTED LINEUP
Forwards
Buchnevich - O'Reilly - Perron
Saad - Thomas - Kyrou
Barbashev - Schenn - Tarasenko
Toropchenko - Bozak
Defense
Leddy - Parayko
Rosen - Faulk
Mikkola - Bortuzzo
Perunovich
Goalie
Husso
