Avs-Rangers grades: Happy Days here again

Well, we finally have a victory to write about. The Avalanche dominated the New York Rangers from start to finish Friday night, breaking a six-game winless streak.

Let’s grades the players individually:

Gabe Landeskog (A) – Jared Bednar moved him back on to the Three-Headed Monster line, and it was just like riding a bike for the terrific trio. Landeskog scored his 25th goal of the season, redirecting an Erik Johnson shot home. He made a great backcheck on a play in the first period too, breaking up what could have been a 2-on-1.

Nathan MacKinnon (A) – Great game for MacK, with a goal and two assists. He started the scoring in the first period, finding the top shelf on a power-play wrister.

Mikko Rantanen (A) – Very good performance, marked by his 19th goal of the year in the third. He had a great sequence in the first when he deked by a guy and broke in on a mini 2-on-1. 

Tyson Jost (C+) – Not a bad game, but kind of quiet offensively. He was back on the second line for this one.

Alexander Kerfoot (B+) – Was credited with a goal in the third that made it 4-0, a puck that went in off his body. I thought he was crafty and elusive with the puck.

J.T. Compher (A-) – Nice game. Set up Kerfoot’s goal in the third. I like that he’s usually thinking shot, or just going to the net. He doesn’t fancy-dan in out there. North-South hockey.

Matt Nieto (C+) – Pretty good puck-possession numbers, but his line was pinned for about a full minute in the first, on probably the Rangers’ only good shift in the first two periods.

Carl Soderberg (B) – Fine game for Carl. Good, heavy minutes and he lugged the puck a lot. Had strong puck-possession numbers to prove it. No rewards offensively though.

Matt Calvert (B) – Solid, third-liner kind of game. I thought he broke up some plays defensively and buzzed around the net.

Sven Andrighetto (B-) – Skating pretty well up and down his wing. He’s been kind of a forgotten man of late, and getting only fourth-line minutes makes it tougher.

Sheldon Dries (B+) – Three shots on net. For a guy on the fourth line who played only a bit more than nine minutes, I’ll take that.

Logan O’Connor (B-) – Didn’t play a lot, but had pretty good puck-possession numbers (11 Corsi for, 3 against).

Erik Johnson (A-) – A much-needed quality game from EJ, who played nearly 22 minutes and had an assist on Landeskog’s goal.

Sam Girard (B+) – For the second time in less than a month, he appears to have escaped serious injury, after another hit that didn’t look too good. He left the game in the first period after being boarded by old friend Cody McLeod, but returned not too long after and played pretty well.

Ryan Graves (A-) – Let’s hear it for the kid. Not long after a turnover and hooking penalty that led to a penalty shot for the Rangers, it all went good again for the former Rangers prospect, as he scored in the third for the final goal of the game. Other than that turnover, he’s been terrific for the Avs as a call-up from Loveland.

Ian Cole (B-) – Was on the ice for the Rangers’ only goal, but otherwise a competent game. He blocked three shots.

Tyson Barrie (A) – After some tough games of late, posted a three-assist night and had five shots on net. That’s the thing with Barrie: He doesn’t get down and mope after a bad game. He just goes out and tries to play the same way.

Patrik Nemeth (B-) – Only played 11:19, wasn’t too noticeable one way or the other. But that’s OK.

Philipp Grubauer (A-) – Not that he had to withstand much in the way of Ranger assault, but he made that slick glove save on the penalty shot and had a couple other real dandies. For a guy a lot of fans were mad that he started the game instead of Pavel Francouz, he did his job.