Avs Game 32 Grades: Sloppy Victory

Mark Barberio – B

I think you have to give credit to Barbs. It’s not easy to come out of the press box like he does. A lot of players are not built for that mentally. He’s come in and been steady when the team has needed too. Picked up an assist on the Nichushkin goal and nearly had his own in the second period on a pinch.

Pierre Edouard Bellemare – C

For as poor as Bellemare was to start the year in the face-off circle, he’s really turned it around and now sits above 50%, with another strong night tonight. This game had very little intensity, which is what this guy and his line feed off of. Took a penalty late but I didn’t like that call.

Andre Burakovsky – D

I’m not liking the setup of the top two lines right now. It just hasn’t worked in either of the games they’ve played, and the Avs are still so good they’ve won in spite of it. Burakovsky did get a few shots on net in this one but it was an underwhelming night. He was not alone in that.

Matt Calvert – B-

Like Bellemare, he’s going to feed off intensity and tonight just wasn’t having any of that. Had a chance to basically seal the game shorthanded in the third period but was stopped on a breakaway. Even with all that, Calvert’s line controlled a lot of the play.

Ian Cole – C-

That pairing was the only pair to end up on the negative in shot differentials at even strength, and it was by a decent amount. I did like Cole on the PK tonight, although I’m not sure that New Jersey power play is all that powerful.

J.T. Compher – C+

Compher was solid on the PK most of the night, including a dive late to get a puck out of the zone. That line did create some good opportunities at even strength but just was not able to finish any.

Joonas Donskoi – D

Tonight was not the mess that it was the other night for Donny, but it wasn’t that great either. It was capped off by a shot to the head from Blake Coleman. Donskoi did return late, luckily.

Pavel Francouz – A+

The Avs basically slept through that game, and Francouz was one of the redeeming parts of this one. You can still see the rebounds are out there to get, but he made some big saves, including a few breakaways and two on one’s. The only goal to beat him was off Girard’s stick and in.

Samuel Girard – D

Girard did pick up a power-play assist but still doesn’t look very comfortable there. He took a penalty in the second period on a very uncharacteristic play by him. I didn’t like a lot of his decisions with the puck in this one. At one point he went back to get the puck and had Z on a reverse, but just didn’t do anything and the Devils player took it away from him really easily.

Ryan Graves – C

He didn’t get a “+”, so he’s a complete failure. Kidding, obviously. Graves’ PK work was solid tonight, but spending that much time in your own end against a Devils team that is un-good isn’t ideal.

Nazem Kadri – D

The makeup of this line right now just isn’t working. They’re getting beat down at even strength in terms of shot metrics as well. Kadri took a pretty bad penalty in this one but also got kneed at the end of the game, which went uncalled. Hopefully he’s OK moving forward.

Tyson Jost – B+

I felt like Jost was the Avs most consistent forward, shift to shift, in this one. He’s a controversial player right now, but he’s doing a lot of things right. At some point, however, there needs to be a little more production. You can’t hate on a guy, who in only nine minutes of even-strength time, registers six shot attempts.

Gabriel Landeskog – D

The Captain has looked pretty rough with the puck since returning, and yet, he has three goals in five games, so not too bad. Took another penalty in this one, and that’s kind of been an issue all year with him.

Nathan MacKinnon – B

Another two points for MacKinnon, and he still didn’t look like he was flying the way he normally does. The pass on Landeskog’s goal, where he was opened up to shoot the puck, was all world.

Valeri Nichushkin – B+

The dude is feeling it right now, and now everything is going in. I really don’t know how you explain it at this point. We’re now sitting at six goals in his last 10 games, and he’s picked up a few assists in there as well. My prediction is that a contract extension is almost certain.

Matt Nieto – B

Another game where Nieto does a lot of things right, most of them very small to keep the game moving, and picks up another point. Another member of the strong penalty kill.

Mikko Rantanen – D

Very quiet game from Rantanen. He registered two shot attempts at even strength, which is double what his line mates did, but was relatively quiet overall.

Calle Rosen – C+

Since being taken out of the lineup, he’s come back and played well. He’s starting to shoot the puck more in this one, and had a nice one-timer in the second period. He has not, however, taken advantage of any of the power play time the staff is giving him, and that may hurt him.

Nikita Zadorov – D+

Z’s shot metrics were solid, and he had a few solid rushes up the ice, one of which was shorthanded and another where MacKinnon’s shot was blocked. I felt like he struggled to move the puck out of his own end though, and in a game with very little hitting at all, he was very quiet.