The Avalanche played arguably their most complete game of the season against a lifeless Canadiens team, shutting them out 4-0.
How did each player perform? Let’s find out…
Mark Barberio (A) – Another really good game for Barberio, who already found himself on the top 5 on 3 unit. Two assists for him, but his most impressive moment came in the third when he patiently held onto the puck in the defensive zone, and skated it all the way to the other end, leading to zone time for the Avs.
Francois Beauchemin (A) – A really strong game from Beauchemin, who has looked better the last few games. Made a real nice diving block of a pass in the third.
Joe Colborne (C+) – There weren’t a lot of passengers for the Avs tonight. Colborne even threw a nice big check behind the Montreal net on the forecheck in the first period.
Blake Comeau (B) – Comeau was the best possession player on the Avs tonight, and had a strong overall game. That line didn’t create a ton of Grade A chances, but they controlled the puck well.
Matt Duchene (B+) – Another great night in the faceoff circle, and led the team in shots on goal with 4. He hit the post late in the game, and just couldn’t buy a goal.
Cody Goloubef (C) – Goloubef was the Avs worst D, taking more chances than he normally should, including cutting in front of Pickard with the puck on a breakout with some pressure on him. A few too many turnovers but he wasn’t burned on any of them.
Mikhail Grigorenko (B) – Another strong game for Grigorenko, minus taking himself offside on his breakaway pass to Duchene late in the game. He’s displaying more of the game we saw in preseason.
Jarome Iginla (B) – Iggy has got some life again, and I’m sure some of that is to show other teams that he’s still got something left in the tank for the playoffs.
Gabriel Landeskog (A) – The Captain was a workhorse tonight, doing a lot of dirty work in both ends of the ice and getting rewarded with a few assists as well.
Nathan MacKinnon (A) – It seemed like any time he got close to the net, he flubbed the shot a little bit, but two primary assists on Rantanen goals for MacK this evening.
Andreas Martinsen (A) – It was nice for him to get on the board with his first goal in forever, and did some nice work on the forecheck the rest of the evening as well.
John Mitchell (B) – Mitchell, like other veterans, would probably love to get dealt for a playoff run, and he’s played like it the last two games. He may never score another goal, though.
Matt Nieto (B) – Whipping your back leg around to block a Shea Weber slapshot is not an ideal move, and hopefully he’s OK.
Calvin Pickard (A) – Picks looked awkward at times, but when you get in front of every shot, no one really cares how you look. He didn’t really face a ton of difficult shots but I’m sure he’ll take that.
Mikko Rantanen (A+) – He had 3 goals, and could have had a few more. He kept putting himself in the right spots all over the ice, and was rewarded. It was nice to see him shoot the puck on that first goal. I think he probably would have tried something else a month ago, but the coaching staff is trying to get him to put in on net.
Carl Soderberg (C+) – A quiet and strong game from Soderberg. It’s amazing that this team can look half decent when their depth players don’t play terribly.
Fedor Tyutin (C-) – Tyutin returned to the lineup and proceeded to take a holding penalty early in the game. He took another penalty late in the game, but it was a phantom one.
Patrick Wiercioch (B) – The best defenseman on the team at getting shots through to the net did it a few more times tonight.
Nikita Zadorov (A) – Possibly a more impressive game than Saturday, because he controlled the ice in a very different way. 6 shot attempts, all at even strength, 4 more hits, 22 minutes against top competition, and the best possession numbers at ES for Avs defensemen. He did it all.
The Avalanche continue this mini home stretch on Thursday when they welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins to town. The game starts at 7 PM MST.
