Jordan Binnington was up to more of his typical on-ice shenanigans on Tuesday night. Late in the St. Louis Blues’s blowout 8-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators, Binnington got into a scrum behind his net involving Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.
After attempting to put Tkachuk in a headlock, Binnington was removed from the pile-up by one of the officials. The 31-year-old netminder then skated towards his bench while staring Senators goalie Linus Ullmark down, seemingly challenging him to a fight.
“He’s staring – oh, he said, ‘Let’s go,’ he’s got his gloves out,” Senators color-commentator Mike Johnson said on TSN. “Binnington put his hands out and said, ‘If you want it, here I am.’ He has done this many times in his career.”
Ullmark did not accept the challenge. The two goaltenders instead made their way to their respective benches as the officials cleaned up the ongoing fracas between the rest of the players on the ice. Roughing minor penalties were doled out to Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Philip Broberg, and Matthew Kessel.
Despite trying many times, Binnington has never gotten into an official fight at the NHL level. He does have two fights on his AHL ledger, one against Hershey’s Pheonix Copley and another against Rockford’s Pierre-Cedric Labrie.
Binnington’s latest NHL escapade before Tuesday night came against the Minnesota Wild in March 2023. After sucker-punching Wild forward Ryan Hartman with his blocker, Binnington was challenged to a fight by Marc-Andre Fleury. Unfortunately for face-punch-loving viewers, officials stepped in before the two could throw any blows.
Fleury later admitted that he was down to throw hands because, “One of the guys said that he hit them in the nuts.” Binnington was subsequently suspended two games for roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct.
Unlike Fleury, Ullmark had no plans to entertain Binnington.
“It’s just all an act,” Ullmark said postgame. “We’re up at 7-1 at that point – it’s not necessary for me to go down there. Also, he just stood up for his guys and held away one of our best fighters as well. I’m pretty sure that Brady can take care of himself.
“I rather not do anything. I feel it’s unnecessary for me to do that. If the time comes and I have to go in order to stick up for my teammates, I’ll do it, but there wasn’t any need for it today.”
Ullmark made 26 stops in his second win for the Senators after being traded to Ottawa by the Boston Bruins in late June. The 2022-23 Vezina Trophy winner has no professional fights under his belt.
“He just shrugged his shoulders, whatever, wondering where I was,” Ullmark said. “I was taking care of business in my end and trying to focus on what’s been working for me this game. I’ll let them deal with whatever happened in that zone.”
Binnington came into the game in relief of Joel Hofer after Hofer gave up five goals on 21 shots. He allowed an additional three goals on 14 shots for a .786 save percentage. After a bounce-back season last year, Binnington has been uneven to start the 2024-25 campaign, going 2-4 in seven appearances with a 3.12 goals-against average and a .895 save percentage.
