Binnington perfect for 30 minutes, OHL leads after two

St. Louis Blues prospect Jordan Binnington of the Owen Sound Attack left the game after 30 shutout minutes and a first-period goal by Ryan Strome remained the difference as the Ontario Hockey League maintained its 1-0 lead against Team Russia through two periods of Game 4 of the Subway Super Series in Sarnia, Ontario.

Binnington only had to make eight saves for his half shutout before giving way to Saginaw Spirit goaltender Jake Paterson, a Detroit Red Wings prospect, at 10:32 of the second period.

“All these players are outstanding, both offensively and defensively,” Binnington told Sportsnet’s Rob Faulds. “They did a great job limiting [Russia] to eight shots.”

Though there were no goals scored in the second period, the game had terrific pace with lots of end to end action and some big hitting. A lot of the physical play was being instigated by Plymouth Whalers forward Tom Wilson, a Washington Capitals prospect who was hitting anything he could find in a red jersey.

Barrie Colts forward Anthony Camara, a Boston Bruins draft pick, had two of the better chances of the period. The first came when he nearly split the Russian defense to go in alone on goal, but 2013 NHL Draft prospect Mikhail Naumenkov dropped his stick as Camara went by, and the loose stick wound up knocking the puck away before Corrado could get a shot off.

Later, Camara was set up with an open net by London Knights forward and Boston Bruins prospect Seth Griffith, but his redirection went just wide with a little less than six minutes to play in the period.

Paterson only needed to make three saves in the OHL net over the second half of the period, while Vasilevskiy has stopped 14 of 15 shots through 40 minutes for the Russians.