The Avalanche played one of their more complete games of the season, and used a strong second period to propel themselves to a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.
How did each player perform? Let’s find out…
Tyson Barrie (A) – Barrie is going to get paid this summer, and Avs fans should prepare themselves for that. His first goal might have been the best shot of his career, and his second goal was one we’ve seen many times before, as he joined the rush as the late man. He controlled the play all night long and with Johnson leaving the game in the second, the Avs needed it.
Francois Beauchemin (C+) – Beauchemin looked really worn down in the third period, and playing without EJ was evident, as he didn’t have a puck mover to hand off too and iced it a few times. He reads the play well defensively, especially in the neutral zone.
Blake Comeau (B) – Roy has put a lot of faith in Comeau taking faceoffs, which is strange considering he’d only hit 100 faceoffs in a season once prior to this year. He took 20 tonight and has already surpassed 200 faceoffs on the year. He’s been a decent addition to the power play.
Matt Duchene (B+) – Duchene has scored more deflection goals in front of the net this year than I can remember in his career. He was losing the puck a lot in the first period on the rush, but picked it up as the game went along.
Mikhail Grigorenko (B-) – Grigorenko had a quiet night offensively, but was real strong defensively and may have saved a goal on the penalty kill late in the third. He was able to hit Iginla a few times tonight for shot attempts, and fed Barrie late in the third for the attempted Hat Trick.
Nate Guenin (D) – Guenin comes in and is immediately the worst possession defenseman for the Avs. With Johnson’s injury, he had to play more than he should, and spent a lot of time chasing in his own end.
Nick Holden (B) – If EJ misses any time, I’ll put my bet on Holden moving up to the top pairing with Beauchemin to play against the other teams best lines. He’s not a top 4 defenseman, but he’s shown a lot of improvement this year.
Jarome Iginla (A) – I’ll give him an A because he was able to get #600 tonight but he also led the team with 5 shots on net and was getting open a lot tonight.
Erik Johnson (INC) – And now we wait. EJ would be a huge loss for a team trying to make a push for a playoff spot. I don’t know exactly what happened to him, but he’s arguably the one player they would miss the most long term.
Gabriel Landeskog (C-) – I love Gabe, but he looks really off right now. He’s battled injuries all year with his shoulder, back, and now a swollen face, but everyone knows he can play better. He made a nice play before Duchene’s goal being patient with the puck and taking it around the net to feed Barrie.
Nathan MacKinnon (B-) – The Hat Trick game hasn’t really gotten him going, as he’s now pointless in the three games since. He performed well tonight considering he was shadowed by arguably the best defensive center in the game in Anze Kopitar.
Andreas Martinsen (A) – Let’s just say he fit in a lot better on that top line than I ever anticipated. He led the Avs in possession numbers tonight at 70%, and made a great play to feed Barrie for his second goal of the night.
Cody McLeod (B) – A solid game for McLeod tonight with a big hit early in the night and then choosing a good time to fight, when the Kings had the Avs stuck in their own end.
John Mitchell (B-) – John Mitchell is a really good 4th line center, and the Avs need to leave him there when the team is healthy.
Zach Redmond (B) – I was surprised he played tonight, as he was awful Saturday night, but he played well. It’s funny to see him be a 68% possession player, while his partner Nate Guenin somehow ends up at 31%. That just shows you how bad Guenin is.
Jack Skille (B) – Skille had his motor going tonight, and Roy rewarded him with a lot of ice time early in the game, before shortening the bench later.
Carl Soderberg (C+) – Soderberg had a quiet game, but was still solid. He and Landeskog displayed some chemistry at times tonight that you’d like to see more of in the future.
Alex Tanguay (C-) – I’m really happy Iginla scored #600 because maybe now Tanguay will realize there are other people on the ice than Iggy. He was trying to force feed him all night long.
Semyon Varlamov (A-) – Varly looked bored in front of me in the second period, and ended up taking a penalty and giving up a weak goal, but he shut the door in the third period when the Kings started to come on.
The Avs continue their home stand when they take on the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night. The game starts at 8 PM MST.
