Avs Round 2, Game 1 Grades: Stick with the process

Nicolas Aube-Kubel – B

In the first period, I was ready to declare it time to see Alex Newhook. But as the game went on, NAK started to turn up the heat. Threw a big hit on Kyrou in overtime along the wall, and played a big role in the Girard goal. He’s doing what’s asked of him.

Andre Burakovsky – B+

He honestly did a little bit of everything. He back checked hard, played smart in his own zone, and got plenty of chances, but he really needs to be told that not every goal has to be a snipe. Sometimes you have to make the goalie make a save. Binnington made a lot of those in this game, but the Girard goal is an example that sometimes just hitting the net is good enough.

Bowen Byram – A-

This was the game where you saw just how big a difference the Avs third pairing could make. Byram was active in the offensive zone, and great in his own end, something that the Blues just don’t have from their defense a lot of the time. A great game, and great feed to EJ on the weirdest great save you’ll ever see.

Andrew Cogliano – C

Didn’t love the fourth line really at all tonight, but none of that would have mattered if Cogliano had buried that goal in the third period. Honestly a little surprised he got back in but given the last few second rounds, and playing a veteran team, I’m guessing Bednar wanted another vet on the bench.

J.T. Compher – B

Had some frustrating moments offensively, but did his job in his own end, and was dominant in the face-off circle.

Samuel Girard – A

Hopefully the blocked shot off the foot doesn’t lead to too many problems, because he had a fantastic game. This was a night where you saw the chemistry between Manson and G on full display. A good night breaking it out, a good showing on the only PK of the game, and a big goal.

Darren Helm – C

Lots of hard work down low but not a ton of offense to show for it. That shot on the breakaway looked like it could would have headed a few miles down Colfax if there wasn’t boards behind the net.

Erik Johnson – B+

I mostly don’t really know what he was doing on the Kyrou goal. I know they were scrambling and put in a tough spot by the bad change, but not sure where he was going. Beyond that, he played awesomely, and he and Bo work well together in all three zones.

Nazem Kadri – A-

Listen, like Burky, he needs to hit the net. We know this. Beyond that, the Avs dominated with him on the ice. The Blues registered a single measly shot with him out there, and he won eight of his nine faceoffs in the game. There’s plenty of room for improvement but if the ice is tilted completely in the Blues end with him out there, the Avs are in good shape.

Darcy Kuemper – B-

The first goal was super flukey and in tight, a great shot by O’Reilly. His best save of the game came in the second on O’Reilly off a feed from behind the net. Didn’t love the Kyrou goal, but he was good enough for the Avs to win.

Gabriel Landeskog – A

This man only knows hard work. At the end of a long shift, he’s still working his tail off to setup the Girard goal. On the overtime goal, he was an animal for about 10 seconds down low, retrieving pucks, setting up teammates, and screening Binnington on the winner. He sets the tone of the team.

Artturi Lehkonen – B+

His great chance in the third period where he couldn’t beat Binnington was actually a great defensively play by the Blues back checker to tie up his stick just enough. That line was tenacious on the forecheck, and hopefully the finishing will come.

Nathan MacKinnon – B+

MacKinnon was very good all over the ice, and against a great face-off guy like O’Reilly, managed to break even, which is all you really can ask for. The face-off win on the Nuke goal proved to be massive, but you could tell MacK was on it by how he was skating not just in the offensive zone, but defensively through the neutral zone.

Cale Makar – C-

When Makar has an off night, he usually still has some moments where he wows you. He had one great shift in the third, but beyond that, the puck was not working well for him, especially in the first. Lots of mistakes on breakouts and decisions you don’t usually see from him. The scary thing for the Blues has to be that the Avs registered 54 shots and Makar didn’t even have a good game.

Josh Manson – A

That pickup sure looks a lot better than the Nemeth acquisition last year. He had a few iffy moments where he just got out of it with a little physicality, but he’s been a lot better offensively than I think most would have anticipated. Great job by him on the overtime goal to wait for a lane.

Valeri Nichushkin – A

Huge goal to get the Avs on the board, and was robbed in overtime of being the hero by Binnington. I figured by now the top line would have been reunited, but there’s no need to with how well he has played there.

Mikko Rantanen – C-

He shows flashes, like the post in the first period, and the nice work on the Nuke goal, but he was a mess leaving his own zone along the wall with some ugly turnovers that led to some Blues chances. Rest of the forward group is picking up the slack.

Nico Sturm – C-

He provided very little in terms of anything offensively, as the Avs didn’t even register a shot on net with him out there (a little skewed with the Cogliano post that he set up). He nearly got the puck away from Kyrou, but the double fly-by defense from him and EJ wasn’t ideal.

Devon Toews – B+

Broke up so many plays down low in the defensive zone with his stick that set things up heading the other way. The penalty call on him late was an obvious makeup call, and I’m not sure why the refs decided to suddenly get involved in the final ten minutes of the game.