Avs Game 33 Grades: Desert disaster

Andrew Cogliano – D He was back to being the warrior we have become accustomed to seeing since his arrival, but he just wasn’t very effective tonight. His line didn’t do much offensively and had the rare bad night defensively. J.T. Compher – C This is one of those games where Compher treaded water as a 1C but also was directly involved in multiple plays not finishing that a true top center might have scored on. There was good and bad with him tonight. Andreas Englund – D Englund has excelled in the quiet way that we saw Jack Johnson get by last year where it wasn’t spectacular but it wasn’t a disaster. Just minute-munching shifts the Avs hope are as low-event as possible. Englund’s penalty tonight after getting split is the kind of mistake on mistake he has avoided. Good shot share, but bad in the impact department. Alexandar Georgiev – D He got hung out to dry on a couple of goals but the first and fourth goals are just shots he needs to track and find better. Those are not particularly dangerous shots and they both got by him. Off night for him. Sam Girard – F His mobility was good and he registered a point in his second straight game, but that’s where the positives end. You know those natural disaster movies where the world is ending across two action-packed hours? A lot of Girard’s shifts felt like that tonight. Hard to ding a guy defending a 1v3 but he provided zero resistance on that fifth goal. Charles Hudon – C Hudon at least broke the TOI threshold for giving out a grade. Had a shot on goal and even shot share numbers, but had zero meaningful impact on the game. No offense to him, but I’d rather be seeing what Shane Bowers could do with the 7:57 Hudon got tonight. Brad Hunt – D Englund’s penalty kept Hunt from having two on the night as they got split on the same play but Englund’s infraction against Hayton was the one called. A delay of game later in the third period when the game was pretty well decided. Good shot share, but like Englund, when you’re playing hard third-pairing minutes, you can’t be spending time in the box. Erik Johnson – F EJ and Girard almost seemed determined to one-up each other in who could make the more egregious error. EJ’s mobility was noticeably bad all night and his pinch on the fifth Arizona goal was a massive wtf moment. He smoked a shot off the post that would have been nice to see go in. He’s the only Avalanche regular without a goal this season. Nightmare night for Colorado’s second pairing. Artturi Lehkonen – C- The numbers aren’t kind to Lehkonen and I didn’t love his impact. His tryhard was maxed out, per usual, but he just didn’t change the game the way he can other nights. Seemed to disappear into more as the night wore on. Kurtis MacDermid – INC I don’t get the point of this for either MacDermid and MacDonald. They barely play every night; nothing good or bad seems to ever happen. I guess that’s fine, it’s just added pressure on everyone else to do something. Jacob MacDonald – INC See: Directly above with MacDermid. Cale Makar – B+ A goal and an assist is the kind of production we’re waiting to see from Makar and the goal was a good one. Could’ve been a better night, though, as he left a couple more very good scoring chances on the ice. Hard to ding him for that but the reality is that his game needs to find an extra gear while these injury issues persist. Denis Malgin – B+ I really liked Malgin’s game and that line was effective tonight. He used his speed well and his puck-moving acumen fits Colorado’s up-tempo style nicely. Would’ve loved to see him finish off that breakaway as he didn’t make much of a move. Ben Meyers – B There are some ugly numbers for him tonight but individually you could see his speed jumping off the ice in a way we haven’t often seen from him. He was driving the net and making good chaos happen offensively. The finish has to follow at some point, but this is a player who looks drastically improved from his initial NHL stint this season. Alex Newhook – B Like Meyers, you could just see Newhook all over the ice tonight. He was flying around using his speed to make an impact but also engaging in the hard work that defines quality hockey teams and players alike. Logan O’Connor – C His energy continues to be a nuisance for other teams but his lack of finish continues to be a problem for a player averaging over 15 minutes per night in the month of December. He has five goals on the season and four of them came in Games 11-13. He’s involved in too many good things to not be cashing occasionally. Mikko Rantanen – A- His play tailed off toward the end, but I think he’s feeling the burden of having to be exceptional every night and nearly every shift. He’s no longer riding shotgun to anybody – he is the shotgun. Without him, the Avs may not have any sustained offense. He’s doing everything he can and scored twice tonight. One of them even counted. Evan Rodrigues – A The one-timer on the power play is a legitimate weapon for the Avalanche. I don’t know how you don’t love what he’s giving the Avalanche every night. His speed impacts how teams defend him, which is with an increasing amount of urgency because he’s actively involved in a ton of offense. His shot share was sparkling, as was his play. Devon Toews – B Quietly finished with an assist, but it was his activation in the offensive end that really jumped off the ice to me. When Toews and Makar are at their best, they are Globetrotter-esque in how they control the puck and fly around the ice making plays off each other. You saw some of that tonight even though they struggled to finish. His stick work on defense is immaculate and should be considered teach tape for any young defender trying to break into the modern NHL.