The Wraparound: Binnington giving Blues a chance against Avalanche

The biggest question mark for the St. Louis Blues this postseason was probably their goaltending position.

Jordan Binnington, their Stanley Cup winning starter, had lost his starting job in the second half of the regular season and had seen his play progressively decline after his championship debut season back in 2019. The Blues still made a significant financial investment in him this past offseason, but this season had not gone as planned.

Ville Husso, the Blues’ most productive goalie during the regular season, entered the playoffs as the starter and got off to a great start in Game 1 of the First Round. But after two bad games against the Wild, St. Louis decided to go back to Binnington.

It has proven to be a wise choice.

Binnington enters play on Saturday (8 p.m. ET) having won four of his five starts this postseason with a stellar .948 save percentage. His only loss so far was Game 1 of this series against Colorado in a game where he still played fantastic hockey and at least gave the Blues a chance to win, getting the game to overtime. He came back in Game 2 and stopped 30 of 31 shots to help the Blues even the series and take home-ice advantage away from the Avalanche.

This is an important development for the Blues because it is probably their best chance at an upset in this series.

Colorado’s offense is among the NHL’s elite, and its team speed is game-changing. There are not really many teams in the league that can matchup with their forwards (and defense, for that matter) and slow them down. And the Blues’ defense is already fighting an uphill battle playing through some injuries at the moment. The Avalanche are going to get their chances, and they are going to spend time in the Blues’ defensive zone. It is