Avs Game 68 Grades: Namaste

Mark Barberio – C

Outside of two odd-man rushes allowed in the second period, the third pair was completely invisible, and extremely low event. Barberio was very quiet in this game, which isn’t the worst thing in the world.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – B+

I really felt Bellemare had a strong game in this one, except for maybe the last minute or so. He made a great backcheck to break up a two on one in the second period and the Avs dominated with him on the ice.

Ian Cole – C-

Cole was benched for a good portion of the game the other night and looked eager to get involved offensively early in this one. The hooking penalty and the wild high stick penalty were both legit, and stuff he’s avoided for a while. Really got bailed out in the second after a failed breakout by him led to the Sharks hitting the post.

J.T. Compher – B+

First off, his name is J.T, not T.J, but I’m not sure he cares. Compher’s line tightened up defensively big time in this one, and he picked up two assists, including a beauty backhand pass to Donskoi for the eventual game-winner.

Kevin Connauton – C-

Like Barberio, Connauton was generally fine, and you really didn’t notice him a ton. He did make the big mistake on the Sharks’ second goal, however, trying to blast a shot through a body rather than making the safe play. It took some puck luck to bounce right to a Sharks player, but it’s a dangerous play to make and it burned the Avs.

Joonas Donskoi – B

Okay, hopefully he can gain some momentum offensively after the game-winner in this one. He’s struggled to find the back of the net since the calendar turned to 2020 and with all these injuries, the Avs need someone else going.

Sheldon Dries – C

After the mess the other night, it’s better to be quiet than to make the big mistakes. The fourth line at least ate up a little more ice time than they did in Vancouver, which you need on a back to back.

Pavel Francouz – C

I don’t think he had a great game, but he really was not tested a whole lot. His biggest save was easily the breakaway one on Kane in the second when the game was tied. Since his shot count was low, I think he’ll play in LA.

Samuel Girard – A

Poor Sorensen got hit with the spin move in the third and never recovered. Girard’s shot is what it is, but he has been huge with Makar out.

Ryan Graves – B

I have no idea how he got away with that slash in the third period, but you take it. Other than a slightly slow reaction on the first goal and getting caught a bit in no man’s land because of it, he had a strong game.

Erik Johnson – B+

EJ looks pretty confident right now. He’s joining the rush and carrying the puck a heck of a lot more the last two weeks. My only issue tonight was him missing wide on a rush, which led to a two on one the other way. He did have a pretty epic slide in the third period where Thornton just kind of wandered around him.

Vladislav Kamenev – C

Other than a bad call on him in the first which cost the Avs, I thought Kam bounced back a little here. Made a great feed in the slot to Cole in the second period that nearly gave the Avs a cushion.

Tyson Jost – B-

A nice rush in the second that led to a good shot on goal, and drew yet another penalty for the opposing team. He’s drawn a rather large amount of calls against the opposing teams this year, and that shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Gabriel Landeskog – A

He’s definitely back and on a tear. Three more points tonight for Landeskog, including a great feed on the power play to recognize the goalie had no eyes to track the puck and leave MacK with an empty net.

Nathan MacKinnon – A

MacK was probably the best player on the ice in this one. He took Radek Simek’s lunch money on the Landeskog goal and drove the play all night. Teams have caught on to his blueline play in the offensive, though, and it did lead to a breakaway for the Sharks.

Vladislav Namestnikov – B

Another offensive zone penalty isn’t going to get you in the good graces of the coaching staff, but if he keeps scoring goals from right in front of the net, they might be able to overlook it.

Valeri Nichushkin – B-

Some nights Nuke has good games (like tonight), some nights he struggles a bit more, but the one thing I’ve noticed is he basically goes into lockdown mode in the third period and cranks it up a bit. He did that tonight and came very close a few times to extending the lead.

Matt Nieto – C+

Matt Nieto is from Long Beach.

Logan O’Connor – C

O’Connor had a nice rush after jumping off the bench in the first period but after that was relatively quiet overall.