ST. LOUIS – Jordan Binnington is the only goalie to ever clinch a Stanley Cup title for the St. Louis Blues. Now, he also has 100 NHL wins to his name.
Binnington stopped all 25 shots in Monday’s home win over the Nashville Predators, good for his 12th career shutout and 100th career regular-season victory.
“A lot of fun. Great to do it on home ice. And that’s a big two points for us,” said Binnington on the victory via Bally Sports Midwest. “We’re working hard, so it’s good to get reward here and compete to the end.”
The 29-year-old netminder becomes just the sixth goalie in Blues history to collect 100 wins with the team and the third-fastest to reach that milestone (184 games).
It was a hard-earned milestone as well. The Blues had dropped eight of their ten previous games and Binnington went exactly three weeks without a victory. On Monday, he started the second end of back-to-back games, a rarity on two consecutive games.
St. Louis and Nashville were trenched in a scoreless tie through regulation. Binnington avoided a major injury scare in the third period after an awkward collision involving an opponent and his glove hand.
“It’s funny how that happens. I’m going to worry about that one in a bit, but I think it feels alright,” said Binnington on his hand.
Nevertheless, the 29-year-old netminder stayed in the game and was rewarded with a game-winning goal from Brayden Schenn just a few minutes into overtime.
“Intense game, fun ending, and I’m grateful Big 10 [Schenn] buried that one,” said Binnington. “It’s been awhile, with a couple losses here. It felt really good to get a win.”
At his current pace, Binnington has a strong chance of jumping to fourth all-time among Blues wins leaders (109 victories) this season. Under contract for five more seasons, there is a strong chance he will become the Blues’ all-time leader with a fairly clean bill of health. Mike Liut currently holds the team record of 151 wins.
Like we discussed months ago while Albert Pujols grew closer to 700 MLB home runs, playoff accomplishments do not count toward Binnington’s all-time records. That said, his 16 playoff wins in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final are a record for rookie goaltenders, and he’s near or atop most other Blues goalie playoff records.
Binnington’s path to 100 victories started off very rapidly, winning 54 games over his first two full seasons before pandemic-interruptions. He was only eight games short of becoming the fastest goalie to reach 100 wins in Blues history, and very well could have had that with some better luck in pandemic-altered seasons and St. Louis’ early-season, eight-game losing skid.
Some of Binnington’s most memorable wins include:
Jan. 7, 2019: A shutout in his first NHL start against the Philadelphia Flyers, where the legend of Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” promptly followed and sparked the Blues to a Stanley Cup run.
Feb. 19, 2019: A 31-save performance against the Toronto Maple Leads to help the Blues set a new franchise record with 11 consecutive wins.
Nov. 9, 2019: A 40-save shutout against the Calgary Flames, the most saves Binnington has pitched in a shutout.
April 7, 2021: A 50-save performance against the Vegas Golden Knights that marked a career-high in a non-overtime regular-season game for Binnington.
January 1, 2022: The coldest outdoor game in NHL history, and Binnington overcomes it with a 29-save performance in the Winter Classic.
Binnington also is in the Top 10 in Blues history for saves, save percentage, goals against average, shutouts and minutes played.
The Blues begin a season-long five-game road trip Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers.