SAN JOSE, Calif. – When Robert Bortuzzo last scored a playoff goal, he was a rookie. In junior hockey.
It was 2007 and Bortuzzo was a lanky 18-year-old when he scored for the Kitchener Rangers in an OHL playoff game. Twelve years later, the 30-year-old St. Louis Blues defenceman can’t remember the goal.
But he’ll never forget the one he scored Monday when, with the San Jose Sharks in a feeding frenzy, he worked a beautiful give-and-go with blue-line partner Joel Edmundson, skated away from 39-year-old Joe Thornton, and buried a backhand top corner to break a 2-2 tie and send St. Louis on to a 4-2 win that evened the Western Conference Final at 1-1.
Bortuzzo, who had played 30 NHL playoff games over eight seasons and never scored. Bortuzzo, who was scratched in half of St. Louis’ first 14 games this Stanley Cup tournament.
Bortuzzo! Bortuzzo! Bortuzzo!
Have you ever seen him score a goal like that?
Teammate Jaden Schwartz pondered this question, then deadpanned: "All the time. He’s a gamer."
The Blues are a team of gamers. They sprinted back from last place in the Western Conference to make the playoffs, and haven’t let up. They’re 6-2 on the road in the post-season — without allowing a third-period goal — and are three wins from advancing to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup Final since 1970.
Rookie goalie Jordan Binnington is 10-2-1 after losses, like Saturday’s 6-3 setback to the Sharks in Game 1 of this series. St. Louis has become a tough, resilient team.
And it’s possible nobody is tougher than Bortuzzo, who has built a career by being able to handle the emotions of getting bumped from the lineup, staying positive and ready to seize his opportunity the next time it comes.
Playing due to an injury to Carl Gunnarsson, Bortuzzo seized one of his biggest moments at 16:34 of the second period with the Shark Tank rocking after two goals in two minutes by Logan Couture brought San Jose back from a 0-2 deficit.
"It’s never fun coming out," Bortuzzo said. "But to me, it’s how you approach it, how you handle it. It’s keeping a positive mentality and using the time off to get better. It’s something I’ve done my whole career. It’s kind of something that’s kept me in the league.
"You ask any player, and they want to be in there every night contributing. But at the end of the day, this is a team thing and winning is above anything in this sport. That’s what makes it easy."
Of finally getting an NHL playoff goal, he said: "It was just a rush of emotion. It’s an intense game out there, as everyone knows. That’s all it is — emotion."
"To get that goal for us was massive," Blues centre Ryan O’Reilly said. "When things weren’t going well, we kind of stayed positive with each other. We felt (the Sharks) push, and we knew we needed to bounce back and stay with it. It wasn’t a perfect game by any means, but we stayed with each other, stayed as a team and made some big plays.
"(Bortuzzo) will probably have some swagger now. Well-deserved, though. If he’s going to do that, it’s impressive."
Despite being a 25-year-old rookie, Binnington arrived in the NHL with swagger. His call up from the American Hockey League and promotion to starter in January was a catalyst to the Blues’ historic in-season turnaround.
On Monday, after getting fooled by Couture’s shot through his pads that tied it 2-2 at 6:54 of the middle period, Binnington’s reaction was to embrace the deafening atmosphere and adversity.
"The rink just blew up after that," he said. "It was pretty cool to see. You appreciate the thunder, right? This is the best part of sports this time of year. This is why you play."
Binnington didn’t allow another goal and Oskar Sundqvist secured the win by making it 4-2 with 3:08 remaining, redirecting a puck past San Jose goalie Martin Jones during a four-on-two rush.
Goals by Schwartz and defenceman Vince Dunn gave the Blues a 2-0 lead in the first 24 minutes.
"It’s never easy in the playoffs," forward Brayden Schenn said. "You get up 2-0, think things are going good. It was 2-2 before we knew it. Momentum shifts, and there was some there."
Bortuzzo shifted it back.
Thunder. Then lightning.
"Whether he’s in the lineup or out of the lineup, he’s a top-end guy in our locker room," Schenn said. "Guys lean on him. He’s a fun guy to be around. He’s a glue guy in our locker room. When he steps up… you’ve got to be happy for a guy like that."
Game 3 is Wednesday in St. Louis.
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