Avs-Maple Leafs Player Grades from 4-3 win

The Avalanche collectively beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime Friday night. How did they do individually? Let’s break it down:

Mikko Rantanen (A) – The big, likable Finn finished off a great pass from Nathan MacKinnon for a goal and was generally engaged most every shift. He was strong on the puck and lugged it up and down the wall lots.

Nathan MacKinnon (A+) – A goal and two assists and he nearly won it in OT with a blast that got iron instead. He created the 4-on-3 in OT with a breakout that forced Connor Brown to haul him down. Arguably, this was MacK’s best game of the season.

Gabe Landeskog (B+) – He posted an assist and played nearly 24 hard minutes, doing a nice job defensively for the most part.

Erik Johnson (A) – He played 29:40, had five shots on net and kept the puck moving on the power play. He also had three hits and four blocked shots.

Nikita Zadorov (A-) – Excellent night for the Big Z, with two assists and good engagement everywhere. He could have been more physical prior to Toronto’s late tying goal, but that’s forgotten now.

Sven Andrighetto (C) – Not much to report overall, with a couple nice shifts here and there but mostly he was just along for the ride in this one.

J.T. Compher (B) – He got the game-winner and had a dangerous couple other shifts, though he did finish a minus-2. That was a great shot on the winner.

Alexander Kerfoot (B+) – He beat Calvin Pickard on a great shot to give the Avs a 3-2 lead in the third, his only shot of the night of course. He also set the screen on Compher’s winner.

Mark Barberio (B) – He played his more natural left side and skated with the puck better as a result. He also helped set up the Avs’ third goal with a good lead pass to MacKinnon up the wall.

Patrik Nemeth (C+) – He keeps icing the puck too much (which helped lead to Toronto’s second goal) and makes you jittery when he has it in his own zone, but he did play better in the second half of the game and nearly set up a Matt Nieto goal.

Carl Soderberg (B-) – He had an assist and was part of a PK unit that extended the Avs’ games-without-allowing-a-PP-goal streak to 10.

Matt Nieto (C-) – No shots on goal in nearly 16 minutes, though he did a decent job grinding in the corners. It just seems like others have to hand-deliver offensive chances to him, though.

Blake Comeau (C-) – A minus-2 showing, including some tardy backchecking on Toronto’s first goal. He made a few good decisions with the puck, though, getting some deep and/or not trying the kinds of back-passes he’s sometimes guilty of overdoing.

Colin Wilson (C-) – Honestly, I didn’t notice him once all night. That’s not always a bad thing, but in this case, it just wasn’t much to write home about.

Tyson Jost (C) – He only played 9:04, so it’s tough to get on him much either way. Is he being wasted on the fourth line? There’s an argument to be made for that, but he’ll get plenty of good ice time in the future.

Gabriel Bourque (C-) – When will this guy do something – anything – to make any kind of difference for this club? At least he’s not a defensive liability. But, it’s hard to believe this guy scored 16 goals in an NHL season once.

Sam Girard (B+) – His hustle to keep the puck in the zone kept the Avs’ OT power play alive, then he fed Compher for the game-winner. He skated well with the puck most of the night, despite some heavy forechecking pressure. He only played 12 minutes, but it seemed like more.

Anton Lindholm (C+) – He had a couple anxious moments with the puck, but overall did a serviceable job on the back end. He only played 11:10.

Semyon Varlamov (B) – He allowed a dreadful goal to Roman Polak and didn’t shine on Toronto’s tying goal with under two minutes left. But he made 31 saves and that’s a good night’s effort.