Colorado Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri accused Jordan Binnington of throwing a water bottle at him in a post-game interview on TNT on Saturday night in the aftermath of a collision that knocked the St. Louis Blues goalie out of Game 3.
"I think it was Binnington, but I was kind of a little tied up so you'll have to ask him," Kadri said after notching a goal and an assist in the Avalanche's 5-2 win.
The comment was part of a post-game war of words between the teams stemming from the incident in the first period.
Shortly after word spread on social media, Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic, who was at the game as a member of the media, posted a photo of a water bottle on Twitter.
Binnington exited after Kadri bowled him over while battling for a loose puck with Blues defenceman Calle Rosen.
Blues coach Craig Berube wasn't happy with Kadri's actions on the play.
"Look at Kadri's reputation — that's all I've got to say," Berube said.
Kadri received an eight-game suspension in the 2021 playoffs for a hit to the head of Blues defenceman Justin Faulk. He also received several suspensions during his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
After the game, Berube said Binnington was having a lower-body injury evaluated. According to Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic, the Blues fear they could be losing Binnington for multiple weeks due to a possible knee sprain.
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar didn't think Kadri was guilty of an illegal action on Saturday, though, saying he felt the forward was simply going after a loose puck.
He called the incident "unfortunate," just like a play a few minutes earlier when the Avs lost defenceman Samuel Girard when he was hit by Blues forward Ivan Barbashev.
The Avs later announced Girard suffered a broken sternum and will miss the rest of the playoffs.
