Jordan Binnington quiets doubters with all-time overtime performance in 4 Nations Face-Off

BOSTON When you hear Jordan Binnington speak, theres often a tinge of defiance in his voice, a confidence in himself that permeates every word that comes out of him.

Playing goal for Canada in any international hockey tournament is a difficult job: You have an entire country scrutinizing your every move, every goal allowed is a national referendum on your performance, every loss means a call to have you removed and replaced.

Advertisement Binnington felt it after Canada lost to the United States in the round robin at the 4 Nations Face-Off even though he only allowed two goals and Canada only scored one.

He felt it coming into the tournament when the entire country was questioning its ability to develop quality goaltenders and was openly calling goaltending Team Canadas biggest weakness.

And then, when his country and his team needed him most, Binnington was there.

He was defiant.

JORDAN BINNINGTON MY GOODNESS #4Nations : @espn & @ESPNPlus https://t.co/S5tPrXCygm : @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ https://t.co/4KjbdjVctF pic.twitter.com/EPFCUVyZ48 NHL (@NHL) February 21, 2025 Connor McDavids championship-winning goal for Canada against the U.S.

on Thursday never happens without Binnington doing what he does, which is come up big when it matters most, when everything is on the line.

He did it in this building in Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup final.

He did it again in this building Thursday night.

Binnington won.

Jordan Binnington is a flawed goaltender, but here are his career numbers in winner-take-all games: -29/30 saves in 2019 second round Game 7 against Dallas -32/33 saves in 2019 Stanley Cup Final Game 7 against Boston -31/33 saves in 4 Nations Face-Off final 3-0.

Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) February 21, 2025 As an athlete, as a competitor, theres always going to be that doubt, and youve got to use that as motivation and find a way and believe in yourself to get the job done, Binnington said.

Just being around these guys the last two weeks, I feel like its elevated everyones game.

Just how proud we are to be Canadian hockey players and just finding a way to win with everything going on.

Just stay with it, is all Ill say.

And while there was doubt swirling around him from the outside, there was none in the Canada dressing room, from the head coach who stood up for him after that loss to the U.S., to the captain, to the best player in the world who ended it in overtime, to the tournament MVP.

Advertisement When it came to overtime, when we needed him most, make the saves he was supposed to, and maybe make a few that youre not, Canada coach Jon Cooper said.

He saved his best for last.

Thats what winners do, and there wasnt a chance I was not going to back the winner.

I dont think I have enough words, to be honest with you, Sidney Crosby said.

He was incredible.

So much poise.

The moment doesnt get to him, McDavid added.

He made probably three or four all-world saves early in overtime to allow us to score the goal.

So, all credit to him.

Hopefully some of those haters will back off him, because honestly, he played great.

We all thought he would be amazing tonight, Nathan MacKinnon said.

Even privately, we expected a great game out of him, and we got one.

It wasnt just that one save on Matthews.

It was three saves on Matthews.

It was an incredible glove save on Brady Tkachuk.

It was one impossible save after another.

The feeling was, after the first one he made, it was oh, thats the save we needed, were going to get it, Brad Marchand said.

Then it happened again, and again, and again, and eventually it was like, man, weve got to pull it together or its going to bite us.

But he just continued to do it.

For him to come up big that many times in overtime, it speaks a tremendous amount to his character and how prepared he was for this moment.

And he took advantage of it.

He was the sole reason we won this game tonight.

As for the state of Canadian goaltending, Binnington initially had no interest in sending any sort of grand message to the hockey world.

When asked what he hopes this performance will do to quell the criticism of Canadas goaltending , he said, I dont hope anything, man.

And thats fair.

Binnington is just one goalie, and it doesnt have to fall on his shoulders to defend an entire countrys worth of goalies.

But then he quickly seemed to realize what had just happened, what he had just done, what the overwhelming narrative was entering the tournament, and he decided to continue on.

Advertisement He did hope something, after all.

Theres goalies that are working their way to be the best they can be and Im hoping I showed that perseverance and belief that Canadian goalies can get the job done, just believe in themselves to get opportunities and find a way to win, Binnington said.

Theres a lot of talented goalies in every country, but specifically, I think, Canada also.

People are going to talk, and youve got to just do your job.

If there is one sentence to sum up what Binnington did for Canada in this tournament, that might be it.

People did talk, a lot of them, all across Canada.

And Binnington just did his job.

(Photo: Brian Babineau / 4NFO / World Cup of Hockey via Getty Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article:

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