The St. Louis Blues considered backup goaltenderJoel Hofer the start between the pipes on Monday against the Anaheim Ducks at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, but ultimately went with the hot hand in Jordan Binnington.
The 32-year-old Binnington entered the Ducks game undefeated in regulation in his last six appearances, but things did not go his way versus Anaheim.
Binnington gave up two goals on just five shots faced in the opening period, leading to St. Louis head coach Jim Montgomery's decision to pull the netminder and replace him with Hofer.
Binnington didn’t seem to appreciate Montgomery’s decision to pull him, but the coach had his reasons.
“For me, I’ve always looked at where the goals came from, and what’s the percentage that those goals should go in,” Montgomery said after the game, per Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic. “A lot of times you let goalies fight through it. But sometimes when I feel that the goalie looks off, just like a player, I pull back his minutes.
Montgomery also noted how such a move on a goalie simply gets blown out of proportion.
“I sit Buchy and Thomas for two minutes, they don’t play 19 minutes, they play 17 minutes and no one really notices,” Montgomery shared. “Unfortunately for a goalie, everybody knows that you’re pulling him.”
Meanwhile, Hofer held his own, as he turned away 19 of the 20 shots he faced from the Ducks.
Unfortunately, the Blues just didn't have the offense to keep up, as they fell prey to the Ducks, 4-1, adding to their woes this season.
