Avs Game 58 Grades: Fatigue sets in

Nicholas Aube-Kubel – F

Another nothing game from Aube-Kubel with zero shot attempts, missed passes, and a lot of time spent in his own end. He also, like most of the team, looked like he was skating in mud.

Andre Burakovsky – C-

Nice drop pass to MacKinnon on the Makar goal, but pretty quiet beyond that point. Only one shot attempt himself at even strength. His night might have been summed up by dropping the puck to no one in the third period at the offensive blue line.

J.T. Compher – D

Horrendous shift in the third period, where I counted three turnovers at the defensive blue line that led to some good chances for the Devils. That line had nothing going offensively.

Samuel Girard – C-

I didn’t have as much of a problem with Girard, as he seemed to be the only one putting in some effort defensively on the second Devils goal. That was more bad luck than anything. They really need to get some offense out of him. The defense beyond the top pair is giving them nothing.

Darren Helm – D

A much less noticeable game for Helm after some strong outings, but he was certainly not alone. His best chance came shorthanded, but he fumbled the puck and then missed a pass to Toews. PK was a mess.

Erik Johnson – D

Recovered nicely in the first period with a nice stick when it looked like he was going to get beat wide. Avs are just struggling with him on the ice, however. It’s telling that his role on the penalty kill seems to be diminishing.

Jack Johnson – D

I’ve liked JJ of late, but not a good game for him. The penalty when he anticipated a cut to the middle and got beat wide was not great and led directly to a goal against.

Tyson Jost – D

His lack of speed was noticeable on a few plays when he was just trying to gain center ice, and got caught from behind for a takeaway. Had one soft shot into the goalie’s chest in the second period and more struggles on the penalty kill.

Nazem Kadri – D

Thought his penalty was funny. Usually he might complain a little bit, but on this one, not at all. Just grabbed his stick and went straight to the box. A very rare zero-shot-on-goal game.

Darcy Kuemper – C

Tough one to grade, because he played great most of the night and just was not getting a ton of help defensively. In the first period, in particular, he had to make a ton of great saves on some real strong chances the Avs were giving up.

Gabriel Landeskog – C-

Wonder if Landy is one of the guys who is a little tired because he did not play a ton at evens strength compared to the other high-end guys. Picked up an assist but so-so game for him.

Nathan MacKinnon – C+

Tough to give him a blah grade on a night when he picked up three more points but thought that line was horrendous defensively pretty much from the start. Batting a puck out of mid-air for a goal is pretty sweet, though.

Cale Makar – C

The most casual rebound tap in you’ll ever see, but defensively, it was not his night. Got caught on some plays where the Devils got some great chances and really seemed to be pushing offensively to the point where the defense suffered a bit.

Ryan Murray – C

I feel like I noticed him the least of all the defensemen, which on a night like tonight, might have been a good thing.

Alex Newhook – C

A little bit of a dip but still the only guy in the bottom six that seems to be creating things on his own. The play in the third where he and Girard ran into each other and Newhook just tossed it to the other team was yet another play that summed up the evening, and Newhook looked to the sky after it happened.

Valeri Nichushkin – C

The only player on the team to finish at 50% shot share. That’s Nuke. For that, he gets a C grade. We also found out even a massive man like EJ will just bounce off of him.

Logan O’Connor – C-

Thought he was forechecking hard for the first two periods but didn’t notice him much in the third. Unfortunately that forechecking led to nothing offensively, and he was a part of the PK that struggled.

Mikko Rantanen – D

Thank god for that goal, because it was not a good night for him otherwise. Hopefully that goal gets him going, though, because his play has dipped. The penalties in the offensive zone in the third period just have to stop.

Devon Toews – D

That was an ugly game defensively from Toews. Games like this happen, but they’re usually a little more stunning coming from Toews because he’s been so good. He was out there for every Devils goal except the empty netter.