Avs Game 16 Grades - Too Little, Too Late

The Colorado Avalanche fell down 3-0, and despite 40 minutes of dominant play, were not able to come all the way back, and lost 3-2 to the Dallas Stars.

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

Tyson Barrie (C+) – Barrie did a lot of good things tonight, but made some mistakes as well.  On the Stars first goal, he got to the puck and blindly threw it around the wall, before it took an unlucky bounce off his leg and went in.  He definitely had some nice plays in the offensive zone, but it hasn’t all clicked yet.

Francois Beauchemin (B) – He ended up with 4 shots on goal, and had to have taken a lot more than that tonight.  He’s looked better as the season has gone on, so the temptation may be to play him more.  We’ll see if that happens.

Rene Bourque (C) – Bourque was one of the few guys on the team who ended up with no shots on net, and generally had a quiet night.

Joe Colborne (C) – It’s weird.  Colborne is a frustrating player to watch on the ice, but the Avs tend to do pretty well with him out there.  He’s good in front of the net but loses a lot of battles on the boards.  Doesn’t make sense.

Blake Comeau (B+) – No surprise that a healthy Comeau is an effective one.  He was creating a lot of good things and they spent a good chunk of time in the Stars end.

A.J. Greer (B) – Congrats to the 19 year old on picking up his first point, and generally getting his nose dirty around the net.  He nearly tied it late, and he’s doing his best to make an impression to stick around.

Mikhail Grigorenko (B) – That tip was a thing of beauty, and he seemed reborn after it.  The Stars only had 1 shot attempt with him out there tonight.  His behind the back pass to Greer nearly got the game tied up.

Jarome Iginla (B) – I think that was probably the best even strength game we’ve seen from Iginla in a long time.  He was winning battles and getting to the front of the net, but unfortunately, couldn’t finish.

Erik Johnson (C) – I know he had a good night in terms of possession, but he can be a lot better than he has been of late.  He turned it over just moments before the Stars third goal behind the Avs net, and isn’t getting a lot of high percentage shots through.

Nathan MacKinnon (B+) – He was something else for the last 40 minutes of that game, and hopefully it’s a sign of things to come.  If he plays like that consistently, the Avs will be just fine.

Andreas Martinsen (B) – Not enough good things can be said about Martinsen’s play on the MacKinnon goal.  He bulled his way through two Stars players to get it to MacK.  The improvement in his game this year is obvious.

Cody McLeod (F) – He took a dumb penalty that led to the Stars game winner, and I’m not sure he played much more after that.

John Mitchell (B+) – We’re getting good John Mitchell right now, and his line has been the teams best the last two games.  We know it won’t last forever, but let’s just enjoy it while it lasts.

Mikko Rantanen (C+) – I love Mikko, but what is with his inability to stay on his feet?  He did have a tremendous zone entry in the second that led to a decent chance.

Carl Soderberg (C) – Soda looked to be skating a lot better than he has most of the season, but the penalty he took in the second with the Avs on the PP was not acceptable.

Fedor Tyutin (C) – His back to back icings in the second period were something to behold, and his lack of puck moving ability is evident the more he plays.  The coaching staff seems to like him, but it’s worrisome that he’s playing as much as he is.

Semyon Varlamov (C) – There wasn’t much he could do on the first goal, but 3 goals on the 6 shots, whether they were tough chances or not, is tough to come back from.

Patrick Wiercioch (C+) – There did seem to be some communication issues between he and Barrie on the puck retrieval just before the Stars first goal, and it ended up in the back of the Avs net moments later.  His ability to move the puck to the forwards cannot be undervalued.

Nikita Zadorov (F) – Three penalties in one game is just not acceptable, and coach Bednar was not happy after the game.  Zadorov has done a lot of good this year, but it’ll be interesting to see if he gets put in the press box on Saturday.

The Avalanche continue their road trip when they take on the Minnesota Wild this Saturday.  The game starts at 6 PM MST.