Stanley Cup Playoffs: Evaluating Binnington and Rask in Game 2

With the Stanley Cup Final tied, both goaltenders enter Game 3 with a win and a loss. Game 2 of the finale of the Stanley Cup Playoffs showed the best and worst from Jordan Binnington and Tuukka Rask.

The goaltending matchup for this year’s Stanley Cup Final is an interesting hand. One side of the ice is Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask. Currently, he is the odds on favorite for the Conn Smythe trophy and almost single-handedly carried his team for parts of this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs. Against him is Jordan Binnington for the St. Louis Blues, whose stellar rookie season coincided, with their rise from worst in the standings to a playoff spot.

Entering game 3 on Saturday night, both goaltenders have earned one win as the series is tied 1-1. Game 2 was a much more balanced game than Game 1, where the Blues controlled early play, but fell flat after surrendering their 2-0 lead. In game 2, both goaltenders showed a few weaknesses worth noting.

Tuukka Rask

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Rask has been nothing short of amazing these playoffs. In game 2 only allowed 3 goals on 37 shots. He finished game 2 with a slightly higher save percentage than Binnington, sporting a .919 save percentage in his overtime losing effort. With Boston’s once strong power play not being as strong and their top line struggling to produce, Rask’s consistency was a welcomed sign.

While it may be difficult to find a weakness in his play, the Blues were able to use his goaltending style against him. Rask is a well-known, hybrid style goalie, being able to switch from the traditional standing position to the butterfly position. His versatility and hybrid nature have been well-known since he took over the Bruins crease from Tim Thomas.

However, in game 2, Rask relied too heavily on the butterfly, falling down into the butterfly position at seemingly unnecessary times. This left the top portion of the net exposed. To Rask’s defense, he moves incredibly well while playing the butterfly and is able to seemingly glide across his crease like butter. But on the Blues’ last two goals, both came with him down low to the ice with the puck directed toward the top portion of the net.

It’s possible to give Rask the benefit of the doubt and say he was screened by the Blues players in front of him during the delayed penalty call. Still, Carl Gunnarson‘s game-winner was shot from the blue line. With the puck not in close range, it makes Rask’s decision to go lower himself not only questionable but also may be hurt his ability to track the puck.

One of the more interesting plays of the night occurred in the middle of the third period when Rask skated outside the Blue paint to his left-hand side to skate on his side and try to make a stacked pad save against the Blue’s Jaden Schwartz. He made getting into position look easy but left himself in a difficult position to recover from.

The Blues may not have scored, Schwartz didn’t even let off a shot, but with Rask laying out to the far left side, the right side of his net was left wide open. Luckily for Rask, Vladimir Tarasenko couldn’t pull off a shot from the doorstep on what would have been an easy goal.

In game 2, Blues players skated into Rask not once, but twice, making contact both times and resulting in goaltender interference penalties. Michael Hurley of CBS Boston speculates it might be a strategic way the Blues are trying to affect the play of Rask.

It’s definitely a far-fetched idea that St. Louis is trying to go after him, but not too far-fetched that Boston’s defense should work harder to protect their goalie.

Jordan Binnington

Binnington was the losing goaltender in game 1, but finished off with a slightly better save percentage than Rask in that game. Granted, Rask only faced 20 shots, allowing two goals. Still, Binnington deserves credit for dealing with the workload of Boston’s shot explosion after the first period on game one. Considering his 6-2 record following a playoff loss, the Blues goalie had a reason to be optimistic Wednesday night.

Taking a look at the goals Binnington allowed in the series-opening game, the rookie netminder had an over-confident habit of skating just outside of his crease, finding himself out of position on the far side of the net, and thus allowing open area for Boston to score.

In game two, Binnington fell victim to a weakness that goaltenders know all too well: the dreaded five-hole. Both of Boston’s goals found a way between his pads, including the game’s opening goal courtesy of Charlie Coyle.

Seeing Binnington surrender two five whole goals was surprising, as he’s unlikely to allow goals to slip between his pads. Before the Western Conference Final, Kevin Woodley compared the strengths and weaknesses of both Binnington and his opponent, Martin Jones for the Sharks. Woodley never considered the five whole to be a weakness for Binnington after analysis of regular season goal charts.

There were a few save made by Binnington in game one’s opening minutes where he stopped the puck between his pads, only to lose track of where it was and frantically look behind him. Although it wasn’t a cause of concern up to now, he seemingly has little confidence when the puck is about to land between his legs.