Avs Game 4 Grades - The Ultimate Bounce Back

 

The Colorado Avalanche bounced back from a miserable performance in Washington by shutting out the high-flying Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0.

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

Tyson Barrie (C+) – Barrie had his steadiest game of the year defensively, but didn’t do a whole lot offensively.  He had no shots on net tonight, which isn’t typical of him.  Still, it was good to see him step up and play well defensively within the system.

Francois Beauchemin (B-) – After opening night, the Avs coaching staff seems to have stepped Beauchemin’s ice time back a bit, which is a good thing.  I think he’s gotten a little bit better as the games have gone on.

Gabriel Bourque (B-) – Bourque missed a glorious chance in front of the net in the second period, but his 4th line was very strong early in the game and helped the Avs get some offensive momentum.

Joe Colborne (C+) – Colborne got a nice pity assist on the flukey Martinsen goal, and that line didn’t get a ton of offensive zone time, but I liked Colborne’s patience with the puck in the defensive zone tonight.

Blake Comeau (B) – That looked a lot more like the Comeau the Avs got more often than not last year.  He was tenacious on the forecheck and strong defensively and was one of the few Avs to break even possession-wise on the night.

Matt Duchene (A) – He wasn’t going to go pointless all year, but he broke out in a big way tonight with two huge goals late in the first and second periods.  The play he made on the boards on Soderberg’s goal had to be Bednar’s dream breakout.

Mikhail Grigorenko (C) – I still did not like Grigo’s game for most of the night, but the play he made prior to Duchene’s second goal is exactly what he needs to do.  He used his size to protect the puck and made a nice play behind the net.  He started to pick it up more after that, but the Avs need a more consistent effort from him.

Jarome Iginla (F) – The Rantanen injury has most definitely put him in a spot he shouldn’t be in, but he’s hurting the team far too much right now with penalties.  His penalty in the NZ tonight was a result of him just sitting at the far blueline waiting for a pass, and his other penalty was in the offensive zone.  Let’s hope this top line Iginla only lasts one more game.

Erik Johnson (B) – EJ had his quietest night of the year, in terms of jumping into the play, but he was strong defensively.  He made a huge block in the second period to erase a good chance for the Lightning on the PP.

Gabriel Landeskog (B) – The Swedish Captain had a quiet but effective game in all three zones, and was another one of the few to finish even in terms of possession.

Nathan MacKinnon (B-) – That was far and away MacK’s quietest night of the year, but he helped the team in other facets, including some nice penalty kill work and having a much better night in the faceoff circle.

Andreas Martinsen (C+) – Marty had a relatively average game before his fluke goal, but everyone needs to get on the scoresheet somehow.  He looks a lot more composed with the puck in the defensive zone this season.

Cody McLeod (C+) – I have absolutely no idea what the point of his fight was so early in the game, but he had a much better night otherwise after that fight.  Unlike last game, he wasn’t stuck out there chasing a ton in the defensive zone.

Ben Smith (D) – He doesn’t get an F because he was good in the faceoff circle tonight, but he almost took out one of the Avs best players with a nice open ice hit in the second.  It could have been way worse than it turned out to be.

Carl Soderberg (C+ – You watch Soda’s goal and you wish he would shoot more.  He started the play by winning a faceoff in his own end and finished it with a laser far side.  He did have some issues clearing the zone this evening.  We still haven’t seen the best of him, but we saw just how good he can be last year and know what he’s capable of.

Fedor Tyutin (C+) – You have to give credit to Tyutin, in that he knows what he is, and doesn’t try to do anything more.  He had a rough PK shift in the second period but was steady otherwise.  He does a good job of taking hits to make a play.

Semyon Varlamov (A) – You have to love the bounce back from Varly after a sub-par opener.  He didn’t have to make a lot of big saves tonight because he didn’t have too, but he was really good and swallowed up all his rebounds.  His best stop came in the second with some nice post to post movement to stop Kucherov.

Patrick Wiercioch (B-) – The Avs didn’t have a ton of success with Wiercioch on the ice (33% score adjusted possession) but he’s shown to be really good at getting his shots through to the net, and that’s what happened on Duchene’s second goal.  He also used his stick well to easily thwart a Stamkos rush in the second period.

Nikita Zadorov (A) – That was his best game in an Avs uniform, and gave you a glimpse of how good he can be someday, possibly someday soon.  He’s looked so much more composed with the puck this year, but tonight, everything came together.  He made a tremendous play to stop Tyler Johnson on a rush in the second and start the breakout immediately after and had the best possession numbers on the team tonight.  He was rewarded with more ice time tonight.

The Avalanche close out their road trip on Saturday evening with a game against the Florida Panthers.  The game starts at 5 PM MST.