It’s top Conn Smythe candidate versus ultra-confident rookie for the Cup Jordan Binnington and Tuukka Rask are set to clash in one of the most intriguing goaltending matchups we’ve seen in a Stanley Cup final in years, Frank Seravalli writes.

Frank Seravalli TSN Senior Hockey Reporter Follow|Archive

BOSTON — “Do I look nervous?”

St. Louis Blue goaltender Jordan Binnington hasn’t just been the story of the season. He also owns the quote of the year since uttering those words in late February.

Truth be told, Binnington said on Sunday, it’s been “a couple years now” since he was last nervous in net.

Unflappable or facade, those nerves will be put to the test on Monday night in Game 1 as Binnington attempts to become the first man to win a Stanley Cup final game in Blues history. Glenn Hall, Jacques Plante and Ernie Wakely all tried before him, but not since 1970.

No pressure.

“Same game, right?” Binnington said, without a hint of tongue-in-cheek.

Binnington will face Boston’s Tuukka Rask in one of the most intriguing goaltending matchups we’ve seen in a Stanley Cup final in years. It’s the leading Conn Smythe candidate against a stone-cold confident rookie.

Both have authored incredible stories.

Rask, 32, enters the final with a .942 save percentage this spring – the highest mark of any goalie since, well, Rask himself (.943) in 2013. He made it look so easy sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes, slaying Sergei Bobrovsky and Frederik Andersen before them.

Binnington, 25, is the best St. Louis sports story since Kurt Warner went from bagging groceries to quarterbacking the Rams to the Super Bowl in 2000. He’s been the catalyst of the Blues’ comeback, a restricted free agent who is playing on his third straight one-year contract after opening training camp as St. Louis’ fourth-string option.

And the Bruins, of all teams, played a pivotal role in getting him to the NHL.

The Blues didn’t have an AHL affiliate in 2017, so there was no net for their 2011 third-round pick to ply his trade. GM Doug Armstrong sent out a memo to all 30 other NHL teams asking if they were looking for an experienced goaltender. Boston’s Don Sweeney called to offer a spot on loan with the AHL’s Providence Bruins.

“It would be disingenuous to say that this was all part of the master plan,” Armstrong said Sunday. “This road was made extremely difficult for him to get to that point, meaning you have to go to a different organization, we tabbed another player ahead of you. And he just said, ‘Okay, we’ll see.’

“What he did do is he never quit on himself and that’s what I take away. I would say what’s the most impressive for me is his belief in himself.”

Binnington got his first NHL start on Jan. 7 in Philadelphia. In the 76 days that started with that shutout, Binnington registered 20 wins in his first 25 starts as the Blues climbed from last in the Western Conference and nine points back of a playoff spot all the way to sixth place.

Binnington has staying power in the NHL because he has been good at every level, the prospect who just never got a shot. But he doesn’t spend a lot of time thinking about what could have been.

“I was fortunate to develop and grow here,” Binnington said Sunday. “I think either way I was on my way. I believed in myself. I’m happy with where I’m at right now. That’s what I’m looking at.”

Meanwhile, Rask is looking to write his own Stanley Cup story. Remember: Rask is one of five players still remaining from Boston’s run in 2011, but it was Tim Thomas who carried those Bruins to immortality.

When Rask got his shot in 2013 against the Chicago Blackhawks, he shined in the final with a .932 save percentage, but blew a two-goal lead in the final 1:16 of Game 6 to lose the Cup. The Bruins held a 2-1 lead and were a minute away from forcing another Game 7.

“It’s a team sport,” Rask said Sunday. “Everybody has to pull their load. That’s the only way you can win. Individuals can have their performance in certain games and turn the tide, but at the end of the day, everybody has to pull along and that’s why we’ve been successful.”

Rest is just about the only thing that these two netminders have in common. Rask made 45 regular season start and split the season’s workload with Jaroslav Halak, which Sweeney says was, “exactly what we planned to do.”

Binnington played in 48 total games between the NHL and AHL. This will be the seventh straight year that the Stanley Cup winner will have made 60 or fewer regular-season starts.

“It makes a difference,” Rask said.

Other than that, the son of Savonlinna, Finland, and the Bounce Back Kid from Richmond Hill, Ont., probably could not have had two more different paths to Game 1.

Rask plays with an edge, Binnington talks with one.

Fans in St. Louis have been walking around wearing T-shirts that say: “Do I look nervous?” Binnington’s own family members have bought them.

That quote tops only what he said when it was suggested that the Bruins might have a book on him from his time in Providence.

“That’s good, I guess,” Binnington cracked in the pre-series lead up.

Does he look nervous? We’ll see.

“I think that’s where experience comes in, you learn that confidence comes from preparation,” Binnington said. “Have faith that things will come around and come your way, just prepare for the moment or opportunity that comes at you. It’s a seven-game series for the Stanley Cup. It’s pretty incredible that you’re about to compete for that trophy.”

Contact Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @frank_seravalli