Binnington, Montgomery ‘good’ after verbal exchange during Blues loss

ST. LOUIS — Jordan Binnington says he’s already moved on from Monday, when the St. Louis Blues goalie was seen in a heated exchange with coach Jim Montgomery after being pulled in the first period of a 4-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.

Binnington allowed two goals on five shots in 10:24 before being replaced by Joel Hofer. It was the second time this season Binnington was pulled from a start (Nov. 5 against the Washington Capitals).

“Honestly, I’m not even thinking about it. It is what it is,” Binnington said after an optional practice at Enterprise Center on Tuesday. “My instinct in the moment is I wasn’t happy and I got 50 minutes left of energy, excitement to play. So, I let it out a little bit on my way off the ice.

“I’m not really worried about it anymore, to be honest. You’ve got to live in the moment, and you know that about me; I say that all the time to [the media]. That’s where I’m at.”

The Blues fell behind 1-0 when Mason McTavish scored at 6:33 on a shot off the left boards that may have caromed off defenseman Cam Fowler’s stick on the short side. Pavel Mintyukov then scored at 10:24 from the outside of the right face-off circle to make it 2-0.

Montgomery then opted to pull Binnington, who after his exchange with his coach didn’t return to the bench until the start of the second period.

“You prepare for a game,” Binnington said. “You’re going in thinking you’re playing 60 minutes, you plan on playing 60 minutes. As an athlete and a competitor, that’s what you want to do. I felt good.

“It’s unfortunate; they got two goals, [but] that’s hockey. The game always finds a way to keep you humble. It’s all part of it. It’s just about whether we won or lost yesterday, I’m coming in, I’m doing the same thing today.”

Montgomery addressed the incident after the game.

“You know, I love Jordan Binnington,” Montgomery said. “He’s a competitor, he raises his games in the big moments all the time. I love him. He walked off the ice, he said, ‘I love you.’ I said, ‘I love you too.’ We’re both competitors by nature, and at the end of the period, he waited for me, we apologized, we moved on. It’s over and done with.”

Binnington, who is 6-6-5 with a 3.20 goals-against average and .870 save percentage this season for St. Louis (9-11-7) and a candidate to start for Team Canada at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, agreed.

“We’re good. It’s between us,” Binnington said. “We’re both competitors. It’s just what happens. Instincts come out. I think we’re all at our best when we’re trusting our instincts. He’s a great coach. It is what it is and we’re just moving forward. It’s totally fine and we’re both men and can handle it. It’s just my instinct to … I wasn’t happy and that’s who I am as a person. I’m sure and in the big picture, I think people would respect that and I respect the fire and people would want to play. At the same time, he’s the coach and he makes the decisions, and I totally respect that too.

“… It’s just a fire that comes out sometimes; it happens to all of us in here. It was good to clear it up and just move forward. Big picture here, we’re focusing on winning hockey games and making a playoff push. This is just a small fraction of time that we can both move on from and me personally, just get back to work and keep building my game.”