Avs-Maple Leafs grades: Carl to the rescue

TORONTO – Nice to write about a win for a change. Avs beat the Maple Leafs 6-3 in their barn. Let’s get to the individual grades, shall we?

Mikko Rantanen (A) – Great game. Not just a great offensive game, but he was really good defensively too. His steal from Nazem Kadri and subsequent goal was one of the best of his career I think. It was the kind of play that was proof positive that the Avs deserved the win tonight, because they just worked harder than Toronto.

Nathan MacKinnon (B+) – Somehow, he got nothing on the score sheet, despite four shots on goal and a very engaged, high-energy presence – especially in the second half of the game. He also won 9-of-13 faceoffs, which was a nice change of pace for MacK. I think he’s going to break out with a big game very soon.

Gabe Landeskog (A-) – His redirect of a Tyson Barrie shot in the second period got the comeback started for the Avs. He was heavy on the puck down low, really possessing it for good stretches. He had seven shots on goal, to lead the team. One bad thing: he lost nine of 10 faceoffs.

Carl Soderberg (X) – I think this is only the third time I’ve handed out an X grade – a performance so good, it was filthy. In his first game as a second-line center this season, Big Ole Carl had the hat trick. That short-handed goal he scored, which put the Avs up 3-2 in the third, was a gem. He outmuscled Jake Gardiner and somehow put one past Freddy Andersen, for the goal that really swung momentum to the Avs for good. I know the Leafs tied it shortly thereafter, but it proved to be just a blip on an otherwise dominant third by Carl and Colorado.

J.T. Compher (A-) – High-energy, very strong performance despite not even getting 11 minutes of ice time (it should be more). His steal and assist to Carl was the game-winning play.

Matt Nieto (B) – I liked his game. There was one bad moment, when he and Mark Barberio kind of got caught looking at the puck and it soon wound up in the back of the net (Toronto’s second goal). But I thought he skated well and did some nice little things defensively.

Matt Calvert (A) – Good, strong game for Calvy. He pulled a Minnesota Fats pool room special on his empty-netter. Next time, though, you gotta call the bank, kid.

Alexander Kerfoot (C-) – No shots on net, lost 7-of-9 faceoffs, wasn’t great defensively. But he had a couple moments offensively. He did some good little things that helped the overall cause. It’s not all about numbers on a spreadsheet. Still, not his best game.

Colin Wilson (B+) – Nice game overall for No. 22. He had an assist and I thought he was strong on the puck when he had it. He’s a smart player. He isn’t the fastest guy on the ice, but he’s not slow either. He was a good asset to the team tonight. He’s a good guy to have when you’re ahead in a game – not behind.

Sheldon Dries (C+) – He’s got his limitations at this level, but he’s a pretty good worker-bee type of player on nights like this. He works hard around the net. He was a minus-1, though, and the puck-possession numbers were average.

Tyson Jost (C-) – Only played 7:47, a minus-1, and the only player on the team tonight who had negative puck-possession numbers. You just worry about the kid losing all his confidence. He just has to work his way out of it. If I were him, I’d just play balls-to-the-wall hockey and stop worrying about everything.

Sven Andrighetto (C+) – Only got fourth-line minutes, finished minus-1. But he was serviceable. It feels like his role has diminished a lot from where he was last year, though.

Erik Johnson (A) – Loved his game tonight. Great puck-possession numbers (27 Corsi events for, 14 against), and he had five shots on goal. That’s the EJ of last year, writ large again. He thrives when he’s given more responsibility by the coaches. Jared Bednar needs to play him a lot again, like tonight (23:53 of ice). He’s a workhorse. Play him more.

Sam Girard (C-) – A weird night. The puck-possession numbers (22-7 Corsi) suggest he had a great game. But there’s the weakness with analytics in hockey; He made a couple of bad mistakes defensively that got him temporarily benched by Bednar, and moved off a pairing with Johnson. I thought he played better after the benching, but it’s becoming a bit worrisome how he’s not really making tangible plays out there right now to help his team win.

Nikita Zadorov (A) – Big Z made a massive difference tonight, I thought. It’s no coincidence, I don’t think, that the Avs won a game for a change, the first game he came back from injury. A couple minor penalties, sure (one was a very iffy call), but otherwise he had seven hits out there, including a couple of Z Smashes. Sign this guy to an extension already.

Ian Cole (A-) – A plus-3 game, plus he had an assist (can I use plus again in a sentence here?). He’s a good, quality D-man more nights than he’s not.

Tyson Barrie (B) – As always, a bit of a see-saw game for him defensively, but he was pretty engaged offensively, getting the assist on the Landy goal, and overall he made the right plays more often than not.

Mark Barberio (B) – He got some Twitter hate from the analytics crowd, but I was fine with Barbs’ play for the most part. He was caught flat-footed in the neutral zone on that Mitch Marner goal that tied it temporarily in the third, though. But he was better than the pointy-headed stat-sheet worshippers who’ve never suited up for a game of hockey in their lives would believe.

Semyon Varlamov (B) – He made three really great saves in the first period, to keep it a scoreless game. Yeah, he was a bit shaky at times after that, especially on that first goal. But that first-period performance was bigger than I think people will give him credit for – though I just did.