Avs Game 54 Grades: That's Wild, man

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – B+

A snipe if you’ve ever seen a snipe, right? You take them any way you can get them, and a good reminder that a shot is never a bad idea. Blocked a shot with his hand late but came back.

Andre Burakovsky – C-

About halfway through the game, Burakovsky got elevated to the top line in an effort to change things up. He didn’t do a whole lot in this one, other than a nice end to end rush in the first that resulted in his only shot of the night (a week wrister from the circle). Took a shot off the knee late but seemed fine.

Matt Calvert – A-

Calvert went full effort mode in the second period when he took an errant Wild pass and turned it into a breakaway. The Avs scored on the resulting power play. This was the type of game he lives for, as he was perfectly happy throwing his weight around and got in a fight late.

Ian Cole – A

Cole was one of the Avs players caught reaching on the Fiala goal, but other than that, a great night for him. Smart pinches, including one that led to the game-winning goal. The third pair is looking better offensively than the second, which isn’t what you would expect.

J.T. Compher – C

Compher picked up an assist, and if Kadri is out any amount of time, it looks like he’ll get more time at even strength, but he looked rough on both goals by the Wild. Had a nice rush late but was stopped by Dubnyk.

Joonas Donskoi – C-

It really seems like Donskoi has taken a lot of penalties in the offensive zone this season, and he did so again tonight off a face-off. Zero shot attempts in 15 minutes of even-strength time is tough. He saw his time on ice grow incrementally every game this road trip, so the staff is happy with his progress.

Pavel Francouz – B+

Another strong performance from him when the team needed it on the second half of a back to back. Some of his rebounds still freak you out a bit, but he played really well in this one.

Samuel Girard – C-

Not a great night for that pair at even strength and Sam looked off with the puck. He missed some plays at the offensive blueline and got stripped a few times in the defensive zone.

Ryan Graves – B

Another plus, and another assist for Graves, who picked that one up just with a nice stick off a zone entry to turn it the other way. Seemed to get quite a few of his shots blocked in this one, but overall a solid night.

Erik Johnson – C-

Remember when EJ was great on the penalty kill last night? Tonight, not so much. He leaves his feet too often and got caught badly on the first Wild goal. I did like him getting nasty at the end of the game, though.

Nazem Kadri – D

Picked up an assist, but two offensive zone penalties just isn’t going to cut it. The real problem is the potential injury here. It didn’t look good on the replay. He tried to come back, but clearly wasn’t comfortable. He’s stabilized the second line all year and to lose him for any amount of time would be tough.

Tyson Jost – C

I know the two on one sticks out like a sore thumb, but he was at the end of a long shift and looked gassed. Still, you’d rather see him take the shot. He did have a nice play in the second where he spun away from a defender and took it to the net.

Gabriel Landeskog – B+

Brutal turnover in the first right into the slot that nearly cost the team. In the second period, though, he got moved off the top line and something clicked. He went into full-on grind mode and picked up a goal immediately. I loved how he played from that point on, and we need to see more of that.

Nathan MacKinnon – B+

Pateryn had no idea how to defend the guy in the first and had to take a penalty because of it. He was flying all night long again, and even though the even strength production isn’t there, that line is still creating a good bit. Just a smart play to shoot through the screen for his goal tonight.

Cale Makar – A-

Another night where Makar was far and away the best Avs defender, and the shot metrics backed it up. Loved his play just before the MacKinnon goal where he looked for Kadri on the tip. The Wild tried to run him, and he went right back at them. You love to see it.

Valeri Nichushkin – C+

Nuke came very close to sealing the game late on a two on one with MacKinnon, but Dubnyk got just enough of it to stop the puck. I think the Avs need to commit to using him more on the penalty kill.

Matt Nieto – C-

Nieto bit pretty hard on that Fiala goal, but he certainly wasn’t alone. Like EJ, Compher, and Cole, was out there for both Wild goals, but not sure he did much wrong on that first one.

Mikko Rantanen – B+

I loved Mikko’s game tonight. The penalty call on him was horrendous, as his stick wasn’t the one in question, but he battled and battled hard in this one. He should draw way more penalties than he does.

Nikita Zadorov – C-

Fugly turnover on his first shift, but settled down a bit after that. You would like to see him be more physical in a game like this, but the reality is that teams don’t try to skate in on him much, so he can’t go chasing anything. He and Cole have developed some nice chemistry.