When you only play half the game, it’s hard to come out on top. That was the message from coach Jared Bednar after the Avs lost their fourth out of the last five, falling to the Dallas Stars by a score of 2-1.

How did each player perform? Let’s find out…

Erik Johnson – D

Some poor pinches in the offensive zone from EJ tonight. At one point in the second period, he carried the puck behind the net and threw a risky pass back to Zadorov, who was all alone covering the point. It was picked off and a breakaway ensued. He was good again on the PK.

Cale Makar – C-

This game felt like a bit of a step back from Makar, as he struggled with the puck just a little bit. He made a great defensive play in the first skating with Hintz, but had a lot of failed plays on the power play breakout and was caught up in the screwed up change that led to the shorthanded goal.

Matt Calvert – B-

The fourth line is no longer the fourth line and did what they do best in creating some chaos and keeping the puck out of their own end, for the most part. He ended with another four shot attempts in this one and continues to do exactly what he’s asked to do.

Jayson Megna – INC

I don’t even know how to grade someone who only played 3:28. Feels like the Avs could call up anyone to do this.

Valeri Nichushkin – C-

He has now gone 82 games without a goal and did not break the goal drought, as I predicted he would. He’s had his chances and had a wraparound late in the game that nearly went in. He played an okay game but had a few moments where you just wonder how a man that big gets the puck taken from him so easily. He made a nice zone entry in the second, only to pass it to the point and have it easily picked off.

Nikita Zadorov – B

For my eyes, he was the best defenseman on the ice for the Avs tonight. He didn’t throw any big hits, but you could see Dallas was aware of him, as whenever they had the puck on his side, they would dump it in rather than make a controlled zone entry. This is a game he needs to build off of. He made a great poke check on Benn in the third to stop a nice chance.

Tyson Jost – B-

A tale of two games for Jost, like most Avs players. An invisible first, and then he went to work after that. He was hunting the puck down and working to get it back on every shift. After being at the bottom end of the possession game against Florida, he was at the top in this one.

Ryan Graves – B-

A solid return to the lineup from Graves, who did exactly what was asked of him and didn’t overextend himself. Made some nice keep-ins at the offensive blueline, including one that led to the disallowed Kadri goal.

Ian Cole – D-

The issue with Cole tonight was his puck decisions. He had some rough turnovers, including one in the first where he threw it right to Radulov up the boards for a chance. He also was trying far too many cute plays in his own end that were easily picked off. It all started early for him as well, taking his seventh penalty in eight games in the first period.

Nathan MacKinnon – A-

18 shot attempts on the evening. Another goal. He was the only guy who could seemingly enter the zone with ease, and at times, he just had to do it himself to get the puck in the zone on the power play. Got outmuscled for the puck on the first Stars goal and beat back into the defensive zone, but he was one of the few guys doing much of anything offensively tonight.

J.T. Compher – B-

A nice bounce-back game from Compher. He played with an edge, which is what he needs to do every night, and put the puck at the net every time he had a chance. He did flub an early opportunity in front off a great pass by Kadri but otherwise was solid.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – B-

I get why it’s happening with the injuries, and they’re certainly playing well, but Bellemare finishing the night with the second-most even-strength minutes is not ideal in a game you were losing most of the way. Still, he generated four shot attempts himself and had a great night in the face-off circle at 71%, so he’s doing just fine.

Samuel Girard – D+

Girard passing up shots in prime spots is becoming frustrating. He made an awesome move in the second at the offensive blueline to create room for himself into the slot, and instead of shooting in the prime location, passed it to EJ, who took the shot from a far worse location and angle. G is a creative guy but those are the chances you can not pass up.

Joonas Donskoi – D

To me, Donskoi had a rough night, and his poor decision with the puck helped lead to the shorthanded goal that ended up being the difference too. He knew it too, as he went straight to the bench and put his head down.

Vladislav Kamenev – C

A rough first for him, including losing two straight defensive zone face-offs that led to chances for the Stars. He was better after that, with a nice pass to Compher on a PP zone entry that Khodobin stopped, and a nice feed to Jost in the slot.

Matt Nieto – C

He was the quietest of the bunch on that line tonight and was the only one of them to finish sub-50% in possession. Not a super noticeable game from him, but that’s okay, as they all won’t be with his role.

Nazem Kadri – B+

When you are that good at face-offs, you obviously are doing a little bit of cheating, but the number of times Kadri got kicked out tonight was absurd and a lot of them seemed unnecessary. He played a great game overall and looked way more comfortable back at center in the last half of the game. His face-off win led directly to MacKinnon’s goal.

Andre Burakovsky – C

Burakovsky’s possession numbers were decent, but he was moved to the MacKinnon line when MacK decided to launch everything at the net so not sure he was carrying the play himself. After his red-hot start, he’s now got one point in his last six games. Consistency has been the biggest issue for him in his career, and without Rantanen and Landeskog, the Avs need him to be better.

Philipp Grubauer – B

I think it’s fair to not like the first goal, as Grubauer looked like he was caught halfway between wanting to make a poke check and not, and that cost him. Hintz deserves some credit for the second goal, as he was flying and shot it in stride, and that’s tough for any goalie to read. He made an absurd stretch of saves with his left pad in the third period to keep the game close. Hard to pin anything on a goalie who only gives up two.