Avs Game 15 Grades - Shutdown Kings

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The Colorado Avalanche played one of their strongest games defensively at home against the Los Angeles Kings, and came away with a 4-1 victory.

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

Tyson Barrie (C-) – It wasn’t quite the disaster that we saw from Barrie the other night, but it still wasn’t a very good night for him.  He did manage to finish +3, but he was the worst defenseman on the ice for the Avs, and made some questionable plays in the defensive zone.

Francois Beauchemin (B) – Other than him sliding out of the play on the lone Kings goal, Beauchemin had a steady and quiet game.

Rene Bourque (C+) – He scored again.  I don’t get it, but he keeps scoring.  Unfortunately, that line got crushed all night long, spending a lot of time in their own end.  He got lucky in the 3rd, when he threw the puck into the crowd in the defensive zone and didn’t get called for it.

Joe Colborne (C) – He played on the top line tonight, and he was very quiet, other than drawing a penalty in front of the net in the first period.  That’s more of what he needs to do, but he didn’t do it enough tonight.

Blake Comeau (B+) – He took another penalty, but he also drew one tonight, and he played by far his best game of the year. You could tell his skating was much better than it has been most of the year.  This was a little bit more like the Comeau the Avs got last year.

Mikhail Grigorenko (C) – A very quiet game for Grigorenko, which is both good and bad.  Getting moved down to the 4th line is not a good sign for him, and he didn’t do a whole lot with the PP time he got.

Jarome Iginla (C+) – There were still the moments of frustration with him, like when he struggles to clear the puck defensively, but he did a good job of getting to the net on the Comeau goal.

Erik Johnson (B) – A very quiet but steady game from EJ tonight.  He didn’t make as many of the questionable decisions with he puck that he has been lately.  He and Tyutin had some issues passing the puck early in the game but got better as it went along.

Gabriel Landeskog (C) – He fled the zone a bit trying to break away on the Kings goal, and just had a quiet game overall.  Maybe the empty netter can get him going a bit offensively.

Nathan MacKinnon (B) – People want goals, and I get that, but it’s important to keep in mind he’s playing tough minutes right now.  He went head to head against the Kings top line, starting more shifts in the DZ than anyone on the team, and he still ended up with 10 shots on goal.  That means he was moving the puck from his own end to the offensive zone, and there’s a lot of value in that.

Andreas Martinsen (C+) – A very unselfish play by him with the net empty.  He threw a real big hit on the forecheck behind the net in the third period, and had a nice rush in the second period.

Cody McLeod (C+) – He made one of the nicest tip passes I’ve ever seen him make in the second, and then in the third period, with a guy wide open in the slot, refused to pass the puck, choosing to eat the puck along the boards, and turning it over moments later.  Stuff like that is just annoying.

John Mitchell (A) – This was definitely Mitchell’s best game of the season, and he was rewarded with a bit more ice time.  He had the dangles working most of the night, and kept the puck moving into the offensive zone.

Mikko Rantanen (C+) – A smart play by him to just launch the puck on net on Bourque’s goal, but he had issues tonight with the puck, and didn’t have his best game.  When Duchene returns, it’ll be interesting to see who he lines up with.  His lack of balance is kind of astonishing.

Carl Soderberg (C) – He’s still doing some mind blowingly stupid things with the puck, like throwing the puck to Doughty at center ice on a clean breakout in the third, but he did a bit more offensively tonight.

Fedor Tyutin (B) – I really worry how he’s going to look on the top pairing against a team with more firepower and speed, but he did just fine tonight holding his own.  A team like the Kings is right up his alley.

Semyon Varlamov (A) – It seems to me like Varly is turning a bit of a corner and gaining some momentum in net.  He made some huge saves just prior to the Kings only goal, which he didn’t have much of a chance on.

Patrick Wiercioch (B-) – Why he was ever taken out of the lineup is beyond me.  For the most part, he’s been steady all year, and he’s really good at getting pucks to the net.  His wrap around goal tonight was huge, even if he got help from some poor goaltending.  As mentioned before, that pair did spend a lot of time in their own end defending, and they were on the ice for more scoring chances against than the other two pairings combined.

Nikita Zadorov (B) – He got caught a bit too high on the Kings only goal, as it looked like the Avs might clear, and he wasn’t able to get back to the net in time, but other than that, had a very steady game.  I don’t know why he was dropped down to the third pairing, but he responded with a strong game, and was the only Avs defender at 5 on 5 to finish above 50% in CF%.

The Avs hit the road to take on the Dallas Stars on Thursday evening.  The game starts at 6:30 PM MST.