Avs-Golden Knights player grades: Winning formula

Andrew Agozzino (A+) – First career NHL goal, assist on the third goal: 6:27 TOI. That’s how you handle opportunity.

Sven Andrighetto (D+) – This is a touch harsh but when your playing time essentially doubles and I still don’t have much to say about your game, you’re not doing enough with the increased opportunity. Or I just really missed the boat (always possible).

Tyson Barrie (B) – Strong effort tonight from Barrie and even though the PP continues to struggle, his ES play was rock solid. He nearly scored on a couple of different chances. You’d love to see him bury a few of those but he was definitely the better version of himself tonight.

Matt Calvert (A) – The PK has taken major strides forward since the Toronto debacle and I think Calvert has doubled down on being an animal on that unit. He was a one-man wrecking crew at times tonight. His goal was just capitalizing on hard work. He continues to be a personal favorite of mine.

J.T. Compher (C+) – It’s been a while in the making but Compher finally got hit with the demotion hammer a bit tonight and he handled it well. It wasn’t a jump-off-the-ice kind of performance but he was certainly solid.

Samuel Girard (B) – Shot metrics aren’t in his favor but he got the responsibility of being on the ice when trying to protect a lead in the third period. The results will need to improve a bit to justify continuing to use Girard in that role but I really loved his overall game tonight. Skating, moving the puck, and defending. Full boat night for G.

Ryan Graves (C) – I felt Graves and Girard kind of had opposite nights. I loved G’s process even if the shot share numbers weren’t ideal and Graves posted very solid metrics but I felt the process was a little lacking. He played a more tentative, indecisive brand of hockey than we’ve been accustomed to seeing from him.

A.J. Greer (INC) –  He just didn’t play enough for me to feel comfortable grading him.

Erik Johnson (C+) – Took a penalty and was more just okay than anything else. No major mistakes though and that’s always a good night for a defenseman.

Tyson Jost (B+) – His solo act on the game’s opening goal was great for him personally and just what his team needed. What a hell of a play it was from Jost. After that, though, I really didn’t notice him a lot. Shot metrics are quite solid, though. More of this is needed.

Alexander Kerfoot (C-) – Kerfoot didn’t play poorly but he was very low impact overall and was one of just three Avs (Greer and Nemeth the other two) to not register a SOG. With Nemeth, that’s not who he is and Greer only played four minutes. Kerfoot needs to step up his aggression with the puck.

Gabriel Landeskog (A) – I loved Landeskog tonight. He looked like just what Jost has been needing all year and how can you not love that buttery smooth pass to Agozzino for the second Colorado goal? He might have been Colorado’s best player overall tonight not named Varlamov.

Nathan MacKinnon (A-) – I was actually surprised to see the shot share as weak as it was with MacKinnon because the eyes said he was flying all over the ice and was as dangerous individually as he has been in ages. I still believe that to be true and he earned a nice assist along the way.

Patrik Nemeth (B+) – He played just over seven minutes on the PK and blocked three shots. If his role is going to continue to be PK maestro, he needs more symphonies like tonight. His ES play was severely lacking but this grade is 100% abou his PK work. Well, maybe 80% PK work.

Matt Nieto (B) – I continue to be won over by what Nieto does well versus allowing myself to get frustrated by what he struggles with. It was another night of small detail victories for Nieto. He could have easily had two points tonight with some of his PK work.

Mikko Rantanen (B+) – Big fan of his work overall tonight. He got a different look from the coaching staff and responded positively to it. While the Avs found a win without him scoring tonight, he needs to get back to doing that regularly. ASAP.

Carl Soderberg (C+) – Solid, steady, unspectacular. I feel like I’m describing a beer I would recommend to my buddies that won’t be offensive to anybody’s taste buds but also won’t change anyone’s life. Soderberg, the cool refreshment for achieving neutrality. Too bad he’s not Swiss.

Semyon Varlamov (A+) – Good to see you again Varly. Shoutout to the pals at the bar who dared to do vodka shots in honor of Varlamov’s second shutout of the season. 40 saves were well worth the burn, my friends.

Nikita Zadorov (B-) – It was steady and unsexy, which usually isn’t a good thing for Big Z, but he made like Halloween and pulled it off tonight. I hated the penalty he took but they killed it off just fine so no harm no foul. I really liked how well Zadorov was activating in the offensive zone. That was great.