Blues’ Binnington ‘always planned’ to give Ovechkin his 900th goal puck

BUFFALO (AP) — St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington insists he always planned to hand over the puck Washington star Alexander Ovechkin scored in becoming the NHL’s first to reach 900 career goals.

Binnington tucked the puck into his pants as the Capitals’ bench cleared celebrating Ovechkin’s milestone goal in a 6-1 win Wednesday night.

“Yeah, I figured I basically had an assist on the goal there, turning it over. Didn’t think he’d mind sharing it,” Binnington said after a morning skate before Thursday night’s game against the Sabres in Buffalo. “But I had full intention to give it back to him.”

Binnington picked up the puck from the crease and used a bare hand to pick it up from his glove and put the puck into the back of his pants as he skated toward the boards. A linesman was seen talking with Binnintgon as he stood in his crease before the goalie pulled out the puck and gave it to the official.

“I don’t know, maybe he was trying to grab it to give it to him,” Capitals goalie Logan Thompson said Wednesday night.

Ovechkin posed for photos with the historic puck after the game.

Binnington complimented the historic goal by Ovechkin.

“Incredible play by him to catch that … spin around and get that on net from a bad angle. Obviously, he’s such a legendary player and just seeing a play like that still happening at his age … he’s next level and he just continues to impress,” Binnington said.

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