Avalanche at Blues Game Four Preview

One thing that the loss of Jordan Binnington was compared to on Twitter was the Hand Pass Game of 2019. I’m sure fans remember that - the missed call, the hand pass, the San Jose Sharks goal, the anger. Most fans cite the missed infraction as similar to Binnington’s injury because the Blues bounced back to steamroll San Jose right out of the second round.

The Blues are more than likely going to try to do the same thing here, but what people are missing is that after the hand pass game, the Blues put their noses to the grindstone and just won. No petty drama, minimal complaining - they did what they needed to do and they got out there and won.

Will the 2022 Blues be able to do this, or will they let anger at Nazem Kadri - whose reputation was mentioned several times after Saturday night’s loss - sap whatever momentum they have left? The Blues looked like they had the Avalanche figured out before Binnington left the game, but the loss of their goaltender distracted them nearly immediately. Enough time has passed for the Blues to clear their heads and focus on playing the game they were starting to play on Saturday for a full 60 minutes in front of Ville Husso.

Luckily Brayden Schenn is focusing on supporting Husso - and raises a good point:

“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.”

That exactly is the mindset that the Blues need. If Husso struggles, the Blues do have Charlie Lindgren backing him up, but hopefully that won’t be an issue.

A win tonight gets the Blues back to Colorado in a good position; a loss tonight is less than ideal. Head Coach Craig Berube is ready to move forward:

”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.”

It will behoove the Blues - and members of both teams’ fanbases - to take that to heart.