Avs-Ducks player grades: Right through the heart

Andrew Agozzino (C) – He had one nice play where he chipped a centering pass on net. That was the end of his notable contributions tonight.

Sven Andrighetto (A) – The fourth line was at times awful and one time it was really good. Andrighetto’s biggest contribution, tying the game at 3-3 in the third period, came when he was on the ice with Kerfoot and Jost. He needed that. The Avs needed that. It was big. And then it didn’t matter.

Tyson Barrie (C-) – His pass to Rantanen on Colorado’s second goal was a straight dime. I’m not sure who really lost the coverage on Anaheim’s first goal as Perry came across the defense and Barrie started to follow and stopped, thinking Cole would take him, but Cole stuck with the man he already had and it left Barrie too far behind to do anything. Regardless, it’s an inexcusable miscommunication for Colorado’s second-most used pairing this year. That’s November stuff.

Gabriel Bourque (C) – Made a nice pass to Agozzino for a scoring chance. End scene.

Derick Brassard (C) – It was a nice start but I’m noticing him less and less. That said, his shot metrics were positive, he had two SOG of his own, he had a couple of hits, and he went 6-1 (86%) in the FO circle. Production needs to be there though and it’s just not.

Matt Calvert (B-) – He tied his career-high in points back on February 22 at Chicago. He hasn’t scored a point in the 10 games since. Tonight was a pretty good look at why, too. Lots of really good process as he was part of multiple odd-man rushes and quality scoring chances. He was part of zero goals.

Ian Cole (B-) – I thought Cole had a hell of a game and he made a really nice pass to Andrighetto for the game-tying goal. At 5v5, shot attempts were 18-8 in favor of the Avs and shots actually on goal were 13-5. The reason I’m not grading him higher is that it sure looks to me like Barrie was expecting to take Perry on Anaheim’s first goal and that single breakdown started the slide from dominating the game to eventually losing a game they absolutely had to have. Again, that’s a November problem. Inexcusable for a breakdown like that in mid-March.

J.T. Compher (C+) – It ended up working out so Compher gets credit but he telegraphed the pass to MacKinnon so hard the defenseman never respected the shot and Gibson looked like he even cheated a little. Again, it didn’t matter so you chalk it up to a great play but hoo boy that could’ve gone sideways. The rest of Compher’s game was just okay.  

Samuel Girard (B-) – There were a lot of good moments from G tonight but stretch pass he made to spark Colorado’s first goal is the stuff we’ve been waiting to see more of from him all season. That’s the kind of play that should provide him with the confidence to keep being aggressive with the puck. That’s when he’s at his best.

Erik Johnson (D) – Each of the goals against he was on the ice for involved him losing a battle somewhere that helped create it. He gets paid to be Colorado’s best two-way defenseman and I’m not sure he’s come close to living up to that billing.

Tyson Jost (A) – I thought Jost was really good again tonight. He picked up an assist on the game-tying goal and just couldn’t quite get all of the puck minutes later when Gibson was scrambling. At 5v5, the Avs led in shots on goal 11-1 with Jost on the ice.

Alexander Kerfoot (C-) – This is overly harsh because Kerfoot was actually pretty good tonight. He was part of the very successful trio with Jost and Calvert who created plenty of chances and gave up almost nothing against. That said, Kerfoot just has to bury some of those chances. He’s getting excellent looks and firing them right into the goaltender’s chest over and over. At some point, he has to beat a goalie.

Nathan MacKinnon (B-) – He was dominant early on and then looked like he was skating through quicksand the rest of the game. Had the game stopped in the first period, he would’ve been at an A+ running away. Unfortunately for MacKinnon and the Avs, 40 more minutes had to be played.

Patrik Nemeth (C-) – The Avs were plenty good with Nemeth on the ice 5v5. That wasn’t an issue at all. They weren’t even particularly bad at 4v5 with Nemeth out there either. I’m just not sure who was responsible for what on the game-winning goal. Nemeth talked a bit about it after the game and Zadorov took responsibility but there’s no doubt both guys needed to be better there.

Mikko Rantanen (D) – Rantanen’s goal was perfection. He took what the penalty killers were giving him and instead of forcing the puck into the PP system, he kept his foot on the gas and made an aggressive move with the puck and then backhanded it perfectly past Gibson. The penalty just continues Rantanen’s crushing bad habit of having poor control of his stick defensively. He’s now 8th among NHL forwards in minor penalties. Just a killer.

Carl Soderberg (D) – Soderberg was involved in some great scoring chances but wasn’t able to put anything away. I sure felt like Soderberg’s linemates created something good for him today and he just couldn’t finish it off. Would’ve been a good night for it.

Semyon Varlamov (C-) – I don’t think Varlamov was at fault for everything that happened but he just wasn’t anything close to what the Avs needed from him tonight. The third goal was an especially tough bounce with how he tried to push it to the corner and it hit EJ and dropped right in front. Four goals against in a must-have game is just not good enough.

Colin Wilson (C) – He made three passes that could have very easily turned into goals, especially the one to Rantanen where it hit the post and the Ducks ran down the ice and scored. Those plays didn’t get finished, though, and Wilson’s night ends up defined by a blown defensive assignment than the good he did offensively.

Nikita Zadorov (B-) – I think the game-winning goal was probably on Zadorov. It looked like he was caught watching the puck (as he does a frustrating amount of the time) instead of covering his guy and Perry beat him to the backdoor and put home what is probably the dagger in Colorado’s season. It’s a brutal bottom line given the game Zadorov had with five shots on goal, eight hits, and a breakaway with just under six minutes left in the third period where the puck would not stop rolling long enough for him to make a real move. Zadorov was great activating offense, jumping into the play and keeping offense alive with an aggressive mentality where he just went for it. Ultimately, if Zadorov played the way he did tonight more often, even with the mistake on the PK, he’d be taking the next step towards locking down a top-four job on this team.