Avs Stanley Cup Final Game 2 Grades: Domination

Andre Burakovksy – A

Well, him going out with potentially another injury is bad timing and bad news right when he was getting hot. Great look on the opening goal, and great zone entry on his own goal. Unfortunate that he gets hurt on a great play in the neutral zone.

Bowen Byram – A

He just keeps rolling. They try to physically intimidate him, and it doesn’t matter. He just keeps skating. He had the right idea trying to hit Sturm for a nice give and go in the second but a nice defensive play stopped it.

Andrew Cogliano – A

Fairly easy to tell he couldn’t shoot when he would just give the puck up anytime it came near him. Good idea to just let Manson take it on the second goal. Even with one working hand, he was an upgrade on the fourth line.

J.T. Compher – A

Hopefully the ankle is okay after Perry tried to crush it. Another downright solid performance from Compher, who has done an admirable job filling in on that second line without Kadri.

Darren Helm – A+

The playoffs started and this guy went Benjamin Button on all of us and started rapidly de-aging with each series. He’s a freight train on the ice, hitting everything that moves, and his release caught Vasilevsky off guard for his goal.

Erik Johnson – A

Up big, he didn’t slow down with the physicality, standing up Palat at the blue line at the start of the third period with a big hit. Another fantastic game from EJ.

Jack Johnson – A

You know it’s a blowout when Jack Johnson jukes you out on the forecheck, which is what he did to Corey Perry in the third period. Genuinely solid performance and a great game to give the guy more minutes and let some other guys rest a bit.

Darcy Kuemper – A

Was hardly tested, but his biggest moments came in the second period with a deflection save on the penalty kill and a flashy glove save on Perry off a face-off. When you stop everything that comes your way, you get an A.

Gabriel Landeskog – A

If it wasn’t for a single shot attempt against, he would have had a perfect game like Nichushkin. The Avs completely steamrolled the defending champs and their Captain was held off the scoresheet. The depth is out of control. Dominated in the face-off circle.

Artturi Lehkonen – A

This guy sure does take a lot of hits out there. He’s a bit of a Swiss army knife for the team, moving up and down the lineup as the game goes along and used more when guys go out. Quiet at even strength but good on the penalty kill.

Nathan MacKinnon – A

Defensively outstanding, and he continues to try to break Erik Cernak’s ankles with every shot he takes. The goals will come if he keeps playing this way.

Cale Makar – A+

They can try to intimidate him as much as they want, but he doesn’t fall for that stuff and isn’t afraid to give it back. In the third, he reverse hit Cirelli right in front of the Lightning bench. Going down and scoring a shorthanded goal right after you take a puck off your own goal line is a total boss move.

Josh Manson – A

Just hard work and battling behind his own net on his goal leads to a breakout, and credit to him for jumping in and sensing the rush. I don’t think he left the ice in the last five minutes of the game.

Alex Newhook – A

A game he really needed. He has looked like a guy lacking confidence with the puck, so hopefully those two assists can get him going. That was a really great play on the wall on the second goal.

Valeri Nichushkin – A+

He cannot be stopped. Lightning literally did nothing offensively with him on the ice, and couldn’t contain him in the offensive zone. His agent has got to be loving all of this because he’s earning himself a heck of a deal in a few weeks.

Logan O’Connor – A

Just outmuscled and outworked Victor Hedman in the second period for a near break and great work to control the puck after falling down. Almost had a goal of his own on a breakaway but picked up an assist on the Helm goal.

Mikko Rantanen – A+

He took a weird fall in the third that scared me a good bit because he was dominant in this game. The shot pass on the Burky goal was elite, and the no-look dish to Nichushkin was insane. He has looked like a different player since the end of the Blues series.

Nico Sturm – A

Getting closer to a goal, and some good work on the penalty kill. Loved seeing him get frustrated with a linesman who just refuses to drop the puck.

Devon Toews -A

Big clears on the penalty kill all night long. Completely dominated against Kucherov all night long, not allowing a single shot attempt when the star forward was on the ice.