Avs Game 11 Grades - Beaten Cleanly

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The Colorado Avalanche gave up several odd-man rushes throughout the evening, leading to a 5-1 debacle at the hands of the St. Louis Blues.

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

Tyson Barrie (F) – Barrie started every single one of his shifts at 5 on 5 in the offensive zone, but still managed to come out in the negative in terms of possession  (he was not alone).  He made the right read but missed the puck and it led to a breakaway on the opening shift.  If you’re going to go for it, you have to get the puck.  Like the majority of their core players, the Avs need a lot more from Barrie.

Francois Beauchemin (F) – Mark Rycroft called him the Avs best defensemen after the first.  That, he is not.  He got beat badly on the first goal and allowed an easy pass across on the 4th goal.  He got smoked all night long when he was on the ice.

Rene Bourque (C) – Bourque is a very flawed player, but he’s not been terrible, and that line has been decent the last two games.  He had a chance to bury a goal late but seemed to put it right in the goalie’s chest.

Joe Colborne (C) – Colborne has had more jump the last two games, but that’s the story with the guy, and why he was not qualified this summer.  He shows well in spurts but is frustrating most of the time.

Matt Duchene (B-) – People can rag on the Avs top line for not burying enough chances, but the fact is, they are far and away the best line on the team and the only one that can get the puck in the offensive zone with any regularity.  Duchene scored the only goal right in front of the net, but sadly, the team needs them to score more to get out of this.

Mikhail Grigorenko (C) – I’m liking Grigorenko at center.  It forces him to be engaged more.  He had some good defensive plays, but he needs to shoot.  He passed up a great opportunity early to try to make too fancy a play.

Jarome Iginla (F) – It is what it is with him, but he stopped skating completely on the 2nd goal when he had a chance to stop the play.

Erik Johnson (B-) – It keeps happening.  The team gets blown out and dominated, but EJ is one of the only skaters who hasn’t been getting crushed when he’s out there.  He’s the best defenseman on the team and needs the other core defenseman to help him out a bit.

Gabriel Landeskog (D) – Not good enough from Landy.  He got beat a few times on the backcheck and didn’t get enough done offensively.

Nathan MacKinnon (C) – This game could have been very different if MacKinnon wasn’t robbed in the 2nd by Allen, but that’s the story of his season so far.  1 goal in 11 games just won’t cut it, though.  The line is doing a lot of good things but can’t bury it enough.

Andreas Martinsen (C-) – The penalty call on him was absurd, but he had a quiet night other than that.

Cody McLeod (D) – He got into the lineup because of a groin injury for Comeau, but he did absolutely nothing out there.

John Mitchell (C) – Drew a penalty going to the and managed to throw Ryan Reaves around in the third.  I approve of that.

Mikko Rantanen (C+) – The first average game from Rantanen that we’ve seen.  He got beat on a breakaway in the first period in what was a pretty tough play but had more trouble with the puck tonight than he has in recent games.

Carl Soderberg (F) – What the heck has happened to this guy?  He looks like a very different player than the intelligent, composed one from last year.  He finally made a good pass in the third, but other than that, it’s been a mess of a start for him.

Fedor Tyutin (F) – Another game, another penalty taken, and a brutal turnover prior to the 4th goal by the Blues.  He was also way too far on the other side of the ice for the last goal by Perron.

Semyon Varlamov (D) – The Avs decided not to show up in the first, and Varly did his best to keep the team in there, but the game kind of fell apart for him late in the second period.  Whether you believe it was his fault or not, it’s time to give Pickard a shot to run with the job.

Patrick Wiercioch (F) – Like Beauchemin, he did a terrible job defending the 2 on 1 prior to the first goal, and he was way too soft in front of the net on the 2nd goal for the Blues.  He’s slowed down after a hot start.

Nikita Zadorov (B-) – He and Johnson were the only players to finish above 50% in terms of possession.  It was a quieter night for Zadorov, but maybe that’s a good thing sometimes.

The Avalanche return home on Tuesday to take on the Arizona Coyotes.  The game starts at 7 PM MST.