Avs Game 21 Grades: Another weird loss

Jack Johnson – (D) – This pairing was the only one I had a real consistent issue with. The Johnsons seem out of sync. When you look at their underlying’s tonight, they were *terrible* but when you watch them, one of them seems to be consistently out of position and it has cost the team. They’ve gotta be better.

Erik Johnson – (D) – Not going to keep railing on this pairing, or EJ in particular, but these guys have to be better. Too many errors where you can point to Johnson (pick one) and say “what are you doing?”

Devon Toews – (B) – This game was absolute chaos from the time the puck was dropped, and Toews still found a way to be an impact player in a positive way. He pushes the play forward so effectively, and he does a great job of getting pucks through. That went a long way tonight as he picked up an assist on a Gabe Landeskog tip, and then tied the game late on a laser of a one-timer.

Jayson Megna – (C+) – There was one play for Megna where I said out loud “that’s a really nice play”, he did a great job separating a body from the puck, then got a zone clear on the PK. He also had a really strong night from an analytic perspective, generating eight corsi events for, while only surrendering two against at 5v5.

Valeri Nichushkin – (B) – He’s an animal. This guy is an actual freak. I talked on the DNVR Avalanche Podcast earlier this week about how this level of play from Nichushkin should legitimately put him in the Selke conversation (it won’t, but it should). He made two plays in overtime that gave the Avs chances to win the game. Pucks didn’t break that way tonight, but I still thought he was very good.

Nicolas Aubé-Kubel – (B-) – Ok, this is maybe a touch higher than it should be, but I thought this was arguably his best game as an Av. He made several good plays, and he didn’t take a penalty (yay!). What really bumped his grade up for me was that touch pass he made to set up Darren Helm in the first period. Very high IQ play, that he executed perfectly.

Tyson Jost – (C+) – Better. Not great, but better. His tip-in for the fourth goal is just phenomenal hand-eye coordination, and those are exactly the type of goals he needs to start scoring more of. Not necessarily tipping the puck, because that’s very hard to be good at consistently, but more so plays in front of the net where he’s just causing problems for the goalie and being tenacious on the puck.

Alex Newhook – (B+) – He gets the bump to the “+” because that goal was NASTY. Like, are you kidding me? He made an NHL defender look silly, and then put the puck home with authority. He really looks like his game is coming on a consistent basis, and his confidence continues to rise with it. His goal, and the way he scored it, is what got the Avs back in to this one and springboards them to a point.

Logan O’Connor – (C) – Not a great night for him analytically, but he continues to be a serious problem for opposing teams’ power plays. He just seems to be everywhere, and he hunts the puck with such purpose (in all situations), he created another prime shorthanded chance for tonight, that, if Tyson Jost can get the shot off a half second earlier, we’re probably staring at yet another shorthanded point for LOC.

Jacob MacDonald – (C) – He was called up yesterday, as was reported by 25 different members of Colorado media, and then he played ~ 6:00 tonight as a defenseman. Don’t really have much to say.

Nathan MacKinnon – (B) – It feels like it’s *right there* for MacKinnon doesn’t it? He played another game tonight that most, myself included, would probably say just wasn’t up to the standard we have come to expect. Yet, he recorded three points, including setting up the game-tying goal. He seems to be deferring right now instead of taking the shot, which I think changes once he gets a couple to go in for him.

Darren Helm – (C+) – Helm scored a really nice goal to open the scoring. You needed to see some sign of life from him at even strength. He was brought in this summer to be a steady presence, who could provide some offense on the fourth line, and he hasn’t done enough of either of those things. Good to see him get one tonight, before having a totally passable night.

Samuel Girard – (C+) – I don’t know if it’s just that they’re playing in French Canadian cities, but Girard was feisty as hell tonight. He got slew-footed pretty blatantly, so I get why he was pissed there. But I like seeing that edge from him. If Makar is out for any more games, Girard will need to elevate his game.

Kurtis MacDermid – (C+) – I thought this, like Aubé-Kubel, was his best game as an Av. He played 12 minutes, so it’s not like he was out there being a “key” guy, but I thought he made a lot of his ice time, and made several good plays and reads. I thought he was going to punch one home early in the third period on a good cut to the net, would have been awesome to see for him. It’ll come eventually.

Gabriel Landeskog – (B) – I made a comment a couple of days ago on the podcast that I thought Landy hadn’t been consistently good enough, despite his point totals. Tonight I thought he was exactly what he needed to be. Scored a goal, and said “enough is enough” after the game felt like it was slipping away and reset the tone and energy for his team. The only thing I’d like to see different from him is just a touch more urgency in keeping that puck in the zone on the goal that was eventually ruled offside. That’s not something many will remember since they tied it up, but it was something that I noticed.

Andre Burakovsky – (D) – His confidence seems to be at an ATL. That’s “all-time low”, not Atlanta. Burakovsky is a guy that you can literally tell how he’s feeling just by how he is skating. I thought the clutch goal he scored against Montreal would help him get going, but he really struggled tonight. I have full confidence that he’ll find his game and get back to being a key contributor for them, but the Avs really need him to find that level sooner rather than later given the way these injuries are going.

Mikko Rantanen – (C-) – They tried him as a center on that second lines and it didn’t go well. He made two really bad mistakes that led to the second goal against. Bednar got him back on that top line and he was better, but just still not what you want from Mikko.

Jonas Johansson – (B-) – I moved him up to a B because he did not deserve the fate he got tonight. Of the four he gave up, only one of them can I even remotely put on him. Bednar pulled him as a wake-up call to his team.

Justus Annunen – (B-) – I thought he was fine in his NHL debut. He didn’t look shaky or overwhelmed by the moment. I thought he was solid, and in control. It’s not a great opponent, but tonight gives you a little boost in confidence that the Avs just may have a NHLer on their hands here.