Conference's competitive depth makes life treacherous for coaches: Blues Extra

ST. PAUL, Minn. — There are 16 teams in the NHL’s Western Conference, and 14 of them are fighting for the eight playoff spots.

That creates bad math for coaches. The Edmonton Oilers fired coach Jay Woodcroft on Nov. 12, and the Minnesota Wild cashiered coach Dean Evason on Monday.

Both teams had fallen well behind the Blues in the race for one of the last postseason berths.

“It’s always tough, coaches lose their jobs,” Blues coach Craig Berube said. “It’s the nature of the business. It’s unfortunate.”

On this side of the league, only the rebuilding San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks are putting rebuilding ahead of immediate success. Hence the immense pressure on coaches.

“Every game is tough every night, no matter who you’re playing,” Berube said. “If you’re not prepared, you’re not willing to do the right things night in and night out, play hard, play the right way, you get beat.

“It’s a tough league.”

Binnington shrugs off Wild rivalry

Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington earned villain status in the State of Hockey with his outburst against the Wild last March 15.

Binnington’s fierce competitiveness got the best of him. After Wild forward Ryan Hartman bumped him in the crease while celebrating a goal, Binnington went after him hard.

That brought Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury down the ice looking for a fight. Binnington was up for it, but the linesmen denied fans the opportunity to see a rare goalie fight.

Wild fans remember that, of course, so Binnington figured he could hear some boos.

“I played them last year (April 8 in St. Paul) after the suspension, but yeah, I won’t be surprised,” he said.

Binnington figures the Wild feud is old news. And he would rather be known as a Stanley Cup-winning goaltender than as a throwback to the old Ron Hextall/Billy Smith days of combative netminding.

“I’m focused on winning and the team’s success,” he said. “You live and you learn.”

Binnington has rebounded from a difficult 2022-23 season to go 6-5-1 with a 2.89 goals-against average and .909 save percentage in his first 15 games.

He allowed 14 goals during a weird span of one full game and two half-games, but he remained composed through the adversity before regrouping with a 4-2 victory over the Blackhawks on Sunday.

The back door trap

The Blues scored an easy power-play goal against the Blackhawks when Robert Thomas fired a diagonal pass through a wide-open seam to Pavel Buchnevich, whose one-touch redirection put the puck in the back of the net.

Berube was glad Thomas exploited that opportunity, but he has seen his team pass up shot after shot while forcing back-door plays with the man advantage. So Berube preaches moderation to a team that has been prone to over-passing.

“In every game you play, there’s always some areas, back-door areas that open up,” he said. “It’s always something you look at. They’re available. But in the end, we don’t want to be looking for those all the time. We want to be pretty straightforward, get things to the net, get people to the net. That’s how we want to play.”

Alexandrov waits his turn

Nikita Alexandrov has played in just five games this season while hanging around as the team’s extra forward. Berube’s decision to play 11 forwards and seven defensemen for some games cost Alexandrov opportunities, as did the team’s relatively good health through the season’s first quarter.

“He’ll get back in there; he’s just got to be patient,” Berube said. “I thought he did a pretty good job in the Arizona game. I thought he played a pretty good game. It’s more consistency with him more than anything, finding that consistency game in and game out.”

Tucker did his part

Tyler Tucker remains stuck in his extra defenseman role, but Berube praised his effort against the Blackhawks on Sunday in the third pairing.

“He doesn’t want to go out of his way to make big hits,” Berube said. “When they’re available, make the hit. I thought he had a solid game (Sunday). Clean, his puck play was clean. He’s in good position for most of the night. So I was pretty pleased with his game.”

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