TORONTO — Down their best player and facing their old coach, the Blues submitted their most complete performance of the young season.
During a 5-1 Blues win over the Maple Leafs on Thursday night, there was a bit of everything.
You wanted the former Oilers to keep on with their strong starts? Well, Dylan Holloway scored twice and Philip Broberg once. You wanted to see Jordan Kyrou still look elite without his running mate? He picked up two primary assists. You wanted to see Oskar Sundqvist be impactful in his return? A few shifts in the first period provided that. You wanted to see Jordan Binnington flash his form from last season? Forty saves later, it was more than a flash.
It was more than enough to guide the Blues to their fifth win of the season, and to kick off the four-game road trip with a victory in Toronto.
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“No question our guys came to play,” Blues coach Drew Bannister said. “The effort for 60 minutes, the details in our game, the willingness to block shots, great sticks. When you come on the road against a team like this, you’ve got to be willing to do those things to have success. We had 20 guys doing all those things correctly here tonight.”
Holloway scored on the power play and into an empty net, while Broberg, Alexandre Texier and Jake Neighbours scored at even-strength. Binnington earned his first victory since the opening game of the season after losing each of his last three starts.
Thursday was the first game for the Blues after the team announced that Robert Thomas would be re-evaluated in six weeks due to a fractured ankle. It was also their first game facing former coach Craig Berube since the team fired him in December. Toronto was coming off another four-goal blowout loss in Columbus.
So there was plenty of auxiliary reasons to favor the Maple Leafs on Thursday night. The Blues rendered those moot.
“It’s really, really good to see everyone not skip a beat and just play hard and play our game and believe in each other to get the job done,” Binnington said. “That was a great team win tonight.”
Blues captain Brayden Schenn added: “That’s the mentality we need to have, right? We love Thommer as a player and he’s our star, but unfortunately, that’s the business and you have to go next man up mentality. Guys stepped up and played different roles tonight, different positions and we’re able to find a win. Just a good, hard team win.”
Broberg cranked a one-timer from the blue line around a Pavel Buchnevich screen 4:07 into the first period. Holloway made it 2-0 about 6 1/2 minutes later when he was left all alone in front of the net on the power play. Sundqvist helped win a battle in the corner, and Brandon Saad found Holloway on the edge of the crease.
“I was hoping for it to come out,” Holloway said. “I was calling for it before Saader got the puck. He made a hell of a play to slip it over to me. I was fortunate enough for that one to go in. … I was like ‘Oh my God, this is great if this gets to me.’ Thankfully, it did.”
Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored in the second period for the Maple Leafs to draw them within a goal.
But Texier’s goal (off a strong forecheck by Kyrou and Buchnevich), Holloway’s clincher and Binnington’s saves staved off any notion of a Toronto comeback. The Blues also blocked a season-high 23 shots.
Holloway said the Blues “definitely had to dig in tonight.”
“You’ve got to give the team credit,” Bannister said. “Those guys, they were dialed in. They came with a purpose to win a hockey game tonight. They deserved to win.”
For Binnington, his last three starts have been subpar by his lofty standards, allowing 10 total goals in losses to the Golden Knights, Wild and Jets. On the last home stand, backup Joel Hofer earned consecutive starts, but Binnington got the call in his hometown, a date he said he would “definitely mark it on the calendar.”
Binnington helped the Blues’ penalty kill go a perfect 4 for 4. According to MoneyPuck, Binnington saved 2.96 goals above expected on Thursday night, a mark he eclipsed four times during his splendid season a year ago. His 40 saves were the most by a Blues goalie this season and rocketed his save percentage back to .914.
“Our mindset’s got to be that we have to win 1-0 games,” Bannister said. “If we end up winning 4-1 or 5-1, great. But we have to be comfortable playing in those games.”
While Binnington’s performance primarily helped the Blues earn two points, it also gave him a premier outing during the Blues’ only trip to Toronto this season, a strong in-person argument that he should be the starting goaltender for Team Canada in February’s 4 Nations Face-Off.
“For me, it’s simple,” Binnington said. “It’s just focus on what’s in my control and playing my game. Whatever happens, happens. Just enjoy the moments along the way.”