Goalie Jordan Binnington received a rare 10-minute misconduct along with Nazem Kadri on Thursday after the St. Louis Blues netminder swung his stick at the Colorado Avalanche forward.
With 29.2 seconds left in the second period, Blues defenceman Jake Walman and Avs forward Logan O’Connor got into a scrum in front of the St. Louis net after Cale Makar appeared to score -- but the net was off its moorings so it was no goal.
As Walman went after O’Connor along the boards, Binnington got involved in the scrum along with other Blues players. It intensified to the point where Binnington and Kadri were assessed misconducts after the Blues goaltender shot the puck at Darcy Kuemper and swung his stick at Kadri.
After the game, Kadri expressed confusion for why he received a misconduct and why Binnington swung his stick at him.
"I have no idea. I don't know why I got a 10-minute penalty there. I stayed out the scrum. We exchanged some words. I got a stick swung in my face. Then I end up with a 10-minute penalty. I'm not quite sure what it was for." Kadri told reporters after the game.
"I started skating towards him but I'm about 50 feet away from the guy. I'm getting misconducts for just talking now. Not quite sure what that's about. What are you going to do?"
Binnington became the first Blues goalie since Rick Wamsley in 1987 to be on the receiving end of a 10-minute misconduct. Robert Bortuzzo served the 10 minutes for St. Louis.
Head coach Craig Berube said after the game that Binnington is a passionate player but isn't concerned about the incident.
"Yeah, he gets fired up. He’s a fiery guy. He wasn’t happy about things," Berube told reporters. "It is what it is, so … I’m not going to look into it too much.”
Kadri does have a history with the Blues from last season as he was given an eight-game suspension for a hit to the head of defenceman Justin Faulk in Game 2 of their first-round series.
Faulk challenged Kadri to a fight in the opening minute Thursday and both players exchanged words after the tilt.
"I'll do what I got to do. I'm not going to get discouraged," Kadri said about the fight. "I think it brings out the best in me. I've got no issues. Whatever happens, happens."
