Jesse here, coming to you from a very chilly Pepsi Center press box. The good news is it’s even colder outside, he says with extreme sarcasm. Anyway, the Avalanche locker room finally had something to celebrate past regulation as Carl Soderberg scored the shootout winner to help the Avs grab the extra point. Grades for everyone, courtesy of yours truly, are below.
Sven Andrighetto (B-) – Had a nice assist on the first goal of the game, I noticed him being a lot more active and involved in the play tonight, which is nice to see from a guy who disappears a little more often than you’d like.
Tyson Barrie (D+) – Tyson Barrie isn’t a guy that can just blend in. You really need him to be standing out in one way or another. He normally produces points really really consistently, but as Girard has started to find his game offensively, and MacKinnon really starting to shoot more, Barrie needs to change something to start getting his uniqueness back.
Derick Brassard (C+) – He puts the puck on net. Which is exactly what this team has needed for a long time. I thought he was solid again tonight.
Matt Calvert (C+) – Calvert fits nicely with Landeskog and Jost; reuniting them led to strong games from all three.
J.T. Compher (C) – I noticed him flying all over the ice in the first, one of his better periods that I can remember. After that, by no means was he bad, just didn’t stand out to me a whole lot.
Sheldon Dries (C-) – I think Dries was really the only guy on that fourth line that looked like nothing more than a fourth line guy tonight. Which is fine. That’s what he is.
Samuel Girard (B) – Sam Girard has really found his game recently. He had a handful of grade-A chances in the offensive zone, including a mini-breakaway in OT.
Ryan Graves (B) – AJ and I sat up in the press box and had a long conversation about how much Graves has impressed us. For who he is at this point in his career, you can’t ask for better than what you’ve got so far.
Erik Johnson (C) – He was there, a pretty standard game for him. Nothing stood out, good or bad.
Tyson Jost (C+) – He had a few nice rushes again tonight. He looks like a different guy since coming back from the AHL. Had a couple of pucks he chose to pass instead of shooting when he maybe should have just put it on net himself.
Alexander Kerfoot (B-) – Tonight I thought was his best game in a long time. He is starting to look more and more comfortable playing with the top guys. Still needs to shoot a bit more often.
Gabriel Landeskog (A) –Now that was a captain’s game. He was physical, he was all around the net, he generated chances, and that Mikko goal never even comes close to happening without a fantastic play by Landeskog. About as good of a game as you can ask.
Nathan MacKinnon (A) – He was all over the place tonight. Another beautiful goal from the faceoff circle got things started for the Avs in the first when they were struggling to beat Markstrom to break things open.
Patrik Nemeth (C) – See: Erik Johnson
Mikko Rantanen (B-) – Woah boy, was that first period a rough one for Rantanen. Offside, and a high sticking penalty all in the first 11 seconds. Followed that up by missing a wide open net. And I mean wide open. He scored on a great one-timer and kept the shootout alive (which Varly was happy about), so I think he made up for it.
Carl Soderberg (A+) –Scored the SO winner to break the overtime losing streak for Colorado. As such, he gets an A+ tonight.
Semyon Varlamov (A) – The first one was a little soft for my liking, but I thought he was great otherwise, and he was stellar in the shootout.
Colin Wilson (B+) – It was his first game back, and I thought he was great. That first goal was scored because of Wilson’s hard work. The Avs are better when he’s in the lineup.
Nikita Zadorov (D) – I have been a huge fan of Zadorov’s game lately, but not tonight. Some bad decisions with the puck and the penalties continue to pile up.
0 Comments (4 conversations)
Nels
I like these grades, except for the Zadorov grade. Where did that come from? I’m not saying he was flawless, yes there were some mistakes, as usual. Also as usual he was a a brick wall for opposing players trying to get into the zone and such, nice hits all over the place acting as the Avs only real heavy hitter, and he took about 10 huge shots at the net, in the first period alone. There was one outstanding play when the Avs were on the penalty kill, he used perfect timing in the neutral zone, all the way up at the Canucks blue line, and smoked a guy off the puck just as it got to him, forcing the Canucks to reset their PP. I remember one of his bad turnovers in our end, he just went and got the puck right back and got it out. I saw lots of strong play in front of the next by him on the PK and in general.
Guys I know Z makes some mistakes. But losing him would be such a tragedy for this team. He’s our only really big hitter, and they’re usually clean. Even when he’s not hitting people he’s just a brick wall, opposing teams can’t move around him. Oh yeah, a brick wall that can keep up with McDavid and deny him breakaway opportunities. He’s got a huge shot, as in tied with Barrie for D goals, despite 0 time on the PP and a very defensive deployment in general, unlike Barrie. Also he gives opposing teams nightmares, unlike Barrie. Oh yeah, and he’s only 23. How old is Graves, 24 right? And Graves just made the step from AHL to NHL. What if Z makes a big step next season? Even if he doesn’t, just from what he already brings – that no one else does for the Avs – I don’t see how we can expect to win Cups in coming years without him.
jpwheels
Yeah, what Nels said!
Unit5
Yeah, what jpwheels said
picaro
What all y’all said.
mladen
Yeah, Z was great last night. where did that come from?
Beetlezhuks
Agree with previous comments, Z was a force all night. The penalty, which he took trying to over correct his own mistake a second earlier, was the only blemish
Mapletreemarty
I don’t mind Z taking some penalties as he’s a fairly physical guy trying to impose his will. What impressed me tonight was his gap control, especially in the neutral zone. He was also very engaged all over the ice. There was no puck watching last night.