There was a moment near the end of the first period of the Penguins' 6-2 win over the Blues at PPG Paints Arena that could have been dangerous.
Jason Zucker was trailing Blues defenseman Justin Faulk behind the St. Louis net when Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington stuck his arm out and partially clotheslined Zucker, making contact with Zucker's face and sending him down to the ice and sliding into the boards:
Zucker stayed down on the ice momentarily but got up under his own power and went to the Penguins' locker room for the remaining 27 seconds of the first period.
Given the speed at which Zucker was moving, he's lucky that the damage wasn't any worse.
The officials missing what exactly happened between Binnington and Zucker, and the confusion led to no actual penalty being levied against Binnington for the move.
Zucker was fine and able to return for the start of the second period, and made sure he got the last laugh over Binnington and the Blues.
The call on the ice after some conferring between the officials was a double-minor for high-sticking on Binnington. Since the referees just didn't see what had really happened and Zucker didn't appear to be bleeding, calling it a double-minor for high-sticking seemed to be a strategic choice by the referees.
The NHL only allows video review for penalty calls in a few circumstances. That's a relatively new part of the NHL's rulebook, with the ability to review penalties only being added prior to the 2019-20 season. The only three types of penalties officials are able to review are major penalties (with the exception of fighting majors), match penalties, and double-minors for high-sticking. The reason high-sticking specifically made its way into the reviewable penalty list is to avoid instances of friendly-fire, where a player's own stick or the stick of a teammate might have been the stick that made contact with a player. If it's not clear, a referee can call it a double-minor, take a moment to review it, and either reduce it to a single minor or rescind the penalty all together.
The ability to take a look at the video is presumably why a double-minor for high-sticking was the initial call. If the referee didn't see what actually happened, they at least have a shot at being correct about high-sticking. And if that wasn't the case, they can rescind the penalty.
After a brief review the penalty on Binnington was rescinded because his stick didn't make contact with Zucker at all. It was his glove, as the referees acknowledged in the in-house announcement of the penalty being taken back.
That doesn't mean that what Binnington did was legal, and that clocking an opponent in the face with a glove as he flies by is fair game. But the rulebook only allows the officials to reduce or rescind the original penalty upon review, not impose a new one.
There's a case that Binnington got away with an interference penalty -- one that could have been dangerous, albeit still subtle. Binnington has a history that doesn't exactly give him the benefit of the doubt as far as his intent goes. He's a goaltender that seems to welcome (even seek out) physical contact. It was only two days before against the Hurricanes that Binnington clearly went out of his way to try to lay a check on (the much bigger) Jordan Staal:
Bryan Rust was asked afterward if plays like that from Binnington were on the minds of Penguins players entering this game, given how recently it happened against Carolina. Rust said that it wasn't in regards to Binnington specifically, but plays like that are just something that some goaltenders do now.
"When you look at a lot of goalies around the league, they try and offer a little bit interference when a defenseman is trying to wheel the net," Rust said. "I think that's the instance of what was going on there."
Zucker -- who looked to still be sporting a mark on his nose from the hit -- declined to share his own thoughts on the play after the game, only offering a "I've got no comment on that."
Zucker returned from the locker room with his teammates for the start of the second period and retaliated in a way that probably stung a little more than the mark on his nose did.
The Penguins were already leading 3-1 after two first-period goals from Kasperi Kapanen and another from Rust when Zucker extended the Penguins lead with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle that beat Binnington:
"It's just nice to score, obviously, at any time," Zucker said. "I thought our line was trying to push the pace all night. I thought Rusty played really well. It was good to get that one."
It was the fourth goal that Binnington had allowed on 17 shots in 21:51 of ice time. Blues coach Craig Berube made the decision to pull Binnington from the game, and former Penguin Thomas Greiss entered the net ... literally:
When Binnington exited his crease, he quickly took his helmet off and made a little detour toward the Penguins bench to shout some words at Zucker. Zucker responded with a shrug and a look that appeared unfazed but mildly amused:
I asked Zucker what Binnington was yelling during that moment, and Zucker wasn't totally sure.
"I don't know what he was saying," Zucker said. "I was fixing my glove, I didn't see what happened."
Rust didn't quite know what Binnington was saying, either.
"Zuck and I were laughing about the goal, then you see him skate by," recalled Rust, who was sitting next to Zucker on the bench at the time. "I'm not sure why, or what exactly was said. Very interesting."
Binnington was handed a 10-minute misconduct for "inciting" as a result, a penalty that ultimately did nothing other than pad Binnington's PIM totals given that his night was already over (and Greiss was OK after his little tumble). Even though the penalty was meaningless in the context of the game, Berube wasn't pleased with Binnington's antics.
"It's got to stop, it doesn't help anything," Berube said after the game. "Just play goal, stop the puck."
That was the last interaction between the two for the rest of the game because Binnington spent the remainder of the game in the visiting locker room. The Penguins held on for a 6-2 victory in which Zucker was named the No. 3 star.
Zucker was asked if his goal was made any more satisfying given the context -- Binnington nearly hurt him the period before, and the goal took Binnington out of the game. It made for a pretty good storyline, but Zucker didn't seem fazed by his part in it. His concern was the only end result that really mattered.
"No, that had nothing to do with it," Zucker said of the feeling on his goal. "It's just nice to get that goal and help the team win."
