ANAHEIM – Player grades from the Colorado Avalanche’s 4-3 overtime win against the Anaheim Ducks.
Sven Andrighetto (B) – He got away with a penalty right before his goal but in a game as poorly officiated as tonight’s was, who didn’t get away with something? A great goal right on the doorstep.
Tyson Barrie (A+) – He finished with the one assist but he was outrageously effective tonight. At 5v5, Colorado was 33 Corsi For, 11 Corsi Against. Also seven shots on goal?? That’s a straight beating.
Gabriel Bourque (C-) – He’s just not very good and he can’t even get credit for his PK work most nights when that unit is getting regularly lit up right now.
Matt Calvert (C+) – Calvert was fine today, seeing his three-game point streak come to an end without much pushback. He was really active in disrupting things defensively but when the puck crossed through the neutral zone, Calvert seemed to lose all ability to handle it. He’s being overplayed still but that’s not his fault.
Ian Cole (A) – Like Barrie, this was a game of extreme effectiveness in the shot share department. 30 Corsi For, 14 Against. 15 Scoring Chances For, 8 Against. A beating.
Marko Dano (C-) – He seems pretty out of sorts and after everything he’s been through this season, it’s no surprise. Unfortunately, the NHL isn’t a league for feel-good stories if you can’t play. Dano hasn’t proven he belongs even a little.
Sheldon Dries (C) – I straight up did not notice him much tonight. He was credited with 13 minutes of ice time and three hits, so that’s something.
Samuel Girard (A-) – Holy smokes I thought he played a great game. He was his normal twisty and twirly self as he worked his way through Ducks defenders like he was Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden. He could have easily had a multi-point night with the way he was skating and moving the puck.
Philipp Grubauer (C) – This was a very uneven performance for Grubi. Goals one and two against were straight up bad goals and the third was just a great deflection to my eye. That said, he stopped two clean breakaways to keep the Ducks from ever getting away on the scoreboard. It wasn’t pretty early but he locked it down at the end as his teammates worked their way back from a 3-1 deficit.
Erik Johnson (A-) – He was really good tonight. I thought he was moving well and creating chances with aggression with his feet and the puck. There were a couple of bad turnovers along the way but when he’s handling the puck as much as he was tonight, that’s going to happen to him.
Tyson Jost (B+) – He was quietly effective tonight even though he didn’t score. His stick lift on Ryan Getzlaf in the corner of the offensive zone with about two minutes remaining led directly to a very good scoring chance for Soderberg. He’s been on fire since returning from injury.
Vladislav Kamenev (A-) – Grabbed an assist and spearheaded an extremely effective fourth line. And when I say he spearheaded it, I mean he was directly responsible for much of their success. He was very good tonight.
Alexander Kerfoot (B-) – Got rocked in the faceoff circle, which is a deviation from his recent run of form, but created two very good scoring chances with his elite vision. He’s really good, y’all.
Gabriel Landeskog (A+) – You’ll notice a theme with this line – it’s incredibly good. Landeskog was ultimately credited with the game-tying goal in the third period and he had a two-point night. He also had five shots on goal to go with it. Ho-hum.
Nathan MacKinnon (A+) – What was two goals and an assist ended up as one goal and two assists but it doesn’t really matter. He was incredible and made Ryan Kesler look like the old and broken down center he is these days. His eight shots on goal really added to the ridiculous numbers this line generated tonight.
Patrik Nemeth (B-) – He was really effective with the puck tonight, which is the kind of thing you only say once or twice a year about defensive defensemen. Nemeth’s aggression led directly to the first goal, though, and he was generally really solid overall.
Mikko Rantanen (A+) – After the play down low where he went all Hulk on fools behind the net for the game-tying goal, I turned to my Anaheim counterparts in the press box and said: “You just can’t stop that.” Captain Obvious strikes again!
Carl Soderberg (A) – He’s been so good in racking up a four-game point streak that unfortunately ended today. He nearly ended the game in overtime off a gorgeous feed from MacKinnon but Kesler’s dusty bones found their way into the shooting lane. Too bad. It would’ve been an appropriate capper to a great game.
Nikita Zadorov (C+) – His much-maligned benching looked like it might be destined to repeat itself after he took a silly penalty right after Colorado tied the game and the Ducks scored on the ensuing power play. But Zadorov kept getting out there and had a solid showing.

0 Comments (10 conversations)
Botchcassidy
Just popping in to express my love for Carl and share my dream that he will be able to play with talent at least one time this year.
Botchcassidy
also +1 for “kesler’s dusty old bones found a shooting lane”
IdAvsFan
Have to disagree with the MacKinnon grade until he stops turning the puck over he only gets a B+ in my book
Oldford.Ryan
Agree with this.. I meen I get the 8 shots, and 3 points.. but most of those if not all of those points were a direct result of playing with rantanan.. he turned the puck over at least 4 noticable times… and the stopping up to find the trailer is making me pull my hair out.. but how can you give the guy crap when he ends up with 3 points and 8 shots lol
ljp78
Ian Cole was sooo good tonight, especially during the first period when the Avs were still finding their way. I noticed a number of aggressive pinches and aggressive plays in general from him. And I’m glad Z wasn’t benched, though I don’t know off hand what his ice time was.
KCRybek
Sorry AJ but I have to disagree on Landy tonight…I thought he had his worse game in a while and was the obvious weak link on that line.
Otherwise spot on
Gieser0909
I think the screen jobs on the tying goal (ended up being his goal) and the OT winner are enough to give him the A+. Those were top notch. No one does that better on the Avs then him.
denvermaxd
I mostly always agree with your grades, or defer to your superior knowledge, but EJ looked very shaky to me last night. He fumbled the puck away multiple times, and at least twice he recovered the puck in our zone with time and space, but inexplicably stopped moving and just stood looking for where to move it until he was overwhelmed by a Duck forecheck, losing possession. By the end of the game I was wondering if we might be seeing the beginnings of age catching up with him.
Carter970
Add a turnover in our zone during overtime for EJ. OT should be Barrie and Girard time.
Nels
Where’s Nieto and Wilson and Greer (please God let Compher return soon)? I’ll take them over Dano, Dries, Bourque or Calvert any day. Those guys are bugging me. So is the lack of power plays on obvious calls against the Avs in the 3rd periods of every game, starting to be multiple times every third >:/
Wrath of Jhan
I audibly snorted reading “Kesler’s dusty bones”
TexAvs
Bednar needs to throw out a Greer Kamanev Wilson 4th line.
All three big strong that could create some havoc.
Just make sure the D Men know not to cheat to much because none of them are burners.
Troutzky
A Ninja Gaiden reference! In a hockey article! Great work as always
Rich
Bourque and Dries both have played themselves right off of the ice. Neither have much to contribute to the bottom 6. I would like to see Greer get a chance to prove himself considering how well he has played with the Eagles.
I sure hope Compher is making progress and will be back soon…