Avalanche Game 8 Player Grades - Power Outage

The Colorado Avalanche went 0-for-5 on the power play, while surrendering three power play goals to the Florida Panthers, as well as a short-handed goal, and lost to the Panthers 4-1.  The Avs had plenty of chances to tie it up in the second period, including a 5-on-3 power play, but were unable to get a goal and the Panthers blew the game open in the third.

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

Tyson Barrie (B-) – In his first game back from suspension, Barrie probably looked better than he has all year long.  He was joining the play and creating chances offensively.  He probably needs to shoot more on the power play to keep the penalty killers honest, as he’s become predictable with teams knowing he’s not a big shooter.

Francois Beauchemin (D) – An off night for the veteran, as he took two penalties in the third period, both of which the Panthers scored on and blew the game open.  Beauchemin’s second penalty was particularly terrible, as it was in the offensive zone and was away from the puck.

Reto Berra (C) – The first goal is probably one that Berra needs to stop, coming down the wing, right under his blocker and over his pad.  It’s great shot placement by Trocheck, but at that distance, you need your goalie to make a save, especially late in the period.  The rest of the power play goals, there wasn’t a whole lot he could do.  The PK in front of him was not good.

Blake Comeau (B-) – It was one of Comeau’s better games of late, although he wasn’t without his issues, including fumbling the puck in the second period and nearly giving up a breakaway to the Panthers.  He probably had the best chance of the game for the Avs in the second as he was all alone in front off a great feed from Soderberg, but he couldn’t get the puck past Luongo. The Avs controlled nearly 58% of the shot attempts when he was on the ice.

Matt Duchene (B) – People will rag on him as he’s one of the higher paid players on the team, but can he get a little help?  He could have very easily had a few assists tonight.  He fed Iginla all alone in front early in the game and Iginla missed the net.  He did the same with Mitchell on the power play later.  Iginla also got a mini break in the second off a great Duchene feed.  He’s been much better the last few games, but people may not take notice as the points aren’t there.

Dennis Everberg (D) – No one played less than Everberg, and he didn’t really take advantage of his chance on Duchene’s line.  With all the power plays, his ice time in the second period took a major hit, but he didn’t stand out in any way.

Mikhail Grigorenko (B) – A fine game for Grigorenko, but another one where he didn’t see a lot of ice time.  He might have been the Avs best skater in the first period.  The penalties the rest of the game really hurt him, like Everberg, in getting out there.  It might be time to give him a shot on the second power play unit.

Nate Guenin (C) – You watch Guenin tonight, and he really wasn’t all that bad.  He even had a few nice plays in the offensive zone.  However, you look at the stat sheet and see something very familiar: No Avs player had worse possession numbers than Guenin.  He’s in there for PK purposes.  The PK went 0-3.  Might be time to give Gormley another shot.

Nick Holden (C-) – We thought we had escaped Nick Holden playing in the top 4, as Mike Chambers reported before the game that Holden would play with Guenin, but that was not the case.  He was caught giving up the blueline far too easily on the first goal for the Panthers, and was on the ice for a second Florida PP goal tonight. Zadorov, raw as he is, should be playing more than Holden.

Jarome Iginla (C) – Iginla had his chances tonight.  He just could not bury any of them.  I understand the idea of him being the shooter on the PP, but tonight, he had the puck far too much when it should be in the hands of a guy like Nathan MacKinnon.

Erik Johnson (C) – EJ showed a little more offensive jump tonight, tying for the team high with 4 SOG.  However, he kind of lost his guy on the third Panthers goal after he tried to rush the puck up the ice and wasn’t able to get a shot off.  Avs need more offense from him, as he only has 1 even strength point this year.

Gabriel Landeskog (F) – Pity goal at the end of the game aside, Landy was awful tonight.  The puck was bouncing off his stick, and when he did have it, he was turning it over too much.  Tonight, the Avs didn’t get much from their best players, Landeskog included.

Nathan MacKinnon (C) – MacK had another decent night on the faceoff circle (53%) but was too unselfish with the puck all evening.  In the second, he carried the puck into the zone, and instead of putting it on net, dropped it to Barrie, who was already covered.  He also did not attempt nearly enough shots on the power play. His defensive game is improving at a rapid rate though.

Cody McLeod (D) – I know it was limited ice time, but I really did not like what I saw from McLeod tonight.  In the first, Grigorenko put the puck behind the net, and instead of stopping and starting, McLeod, whose not a great skater, decided to circle and take the long way back, allowing the Panthers defenseman too much time to break the puck out.  He looked really slow tonight, and was not effective.

John Mitchell (D) – The first four games, Mitchell was great.  The next four, he’s been bad.  That’s kind of what you get with the guy, and that’s why he’s never amounted to much, despite being a talented guy.  He passed up too many chances to shoot tonight, and was a liability on the power play for the second straight game.  With how bad the power play has looked, it’s time to take him out.

Jack Skille (D) – I would say Skille earned his promotion, but my fear was that he would look really out of place with skilled guys.  That fear came true, as Skille was out of position a lot, and got in the way of MacKinnon and Landy too much.  Just keep him on the 4th line and let him play a simple game.

Carl Soderberg (B+) – Soderberg was probably the Avs best forward all night, and looked better than he has at any point this season.  He created the best chance of the game in the second for Comeau, and he was taking the puck to the net and drawing penalties.  Given his PP work with Duchene, I would not mind seeing them tried together at even strength a few times.

Alex Tanguay (D) – How many lazy penalties has Tanguay taken this year?  At this point, there has to be serious concern that he’s fading quickly in the twilight of his career.  He did start to show a little more in the second period, like the rest of the team, but he’s too often been a liability on the ice for the Avs.

Nikita Zadorov (B-) – Can we get this guy away from Nate Guenin?  Guenin provides Zadorov with no outlet, and doesn’t move around in the defensive zone, making Zadorov do too much.  He wasn’t very physical tonight, but I liked his breakout game.

The Avs return to the ice on Thursday night as they take on the defending Eastern Conference Champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning.  The game starts at 5:30 PM MST.