Avs-Flames Game 2 grades: It's a series

It was a classic playoff game, one that went to overtime. And get this: the Avs won it.

The grades:

Mikko Rantanen (B+) – Two assists, including on the game-winner. He started off a little slow again, just like Game 1, but definitely got better as the game went along. It’ll be interesting to see if he stays with Landeskog and MacKinnon for Game 3 like he was for large parts of the second half of this one.

Nathan MacKinnon (A-) – How’d you like that laser for the winner? Straight up smoke from MacK, who had yet to find the back of the onion bag to that point in the series. He was good throughout, yet had been just a bit frustratingly off with his shot. Not on the final one. Tie series because of it.

Gabe Landeskog (A) – Man, was he a monster on the puck-possession stats tonight. In regulation, his Corsi was 30 for, 4 against. He had a breakaway that was foiled. He was great on the backcheck and settling plays down with calm stick-handling in the neutral zone. He helped set up that tying goal later. Great game for the captain.

Alexander Kerfoot (C+) – A frustrating night, in the sense that he had the puck on his stick an awful lot, but just couldn’t put points on the board. He had a great scoring chance on the power play, but was foiled by Mike Smith. That was his lone shot on net in regulation.

Carl Soderberg (D) – Just hasn’t been good so far in the series. Lost 11-of-15 faceoffs in regulation and again struggled with the puck offensively. He’s been part of a PK unit that hasn’t been good enough, either. He’s got to get it going.

Matt Calvert (C-) – Been a little too quiet in the series. One of the few Avs who had negative puck-possession numbers.

Colin Wilson (C-) – Done next to nothing so far in the series offensively. Seems a step behind out there so far in the two games. But at least he’s playing OK at 5-on-5 defensively.

Derick Brassard (D-) – Three penalties in the game, one of which resulted in a Calgary PP goal. Been a disappointment so far in series. He’s supposed to be the smart, playoff-savvy veteran but so far he’s making rookie mistakes.

Matt Nieto (B) – Finally solved the Mike Smith hex, with a short-handed goal in second period. Overall, though, he’s been a little too unengaged physically against these guys.

Tyson Jost (C) – Only played 6:43 in regulation. I think he deserves a little more ice time than that. Yet, has he really earned it? Tough to say, but Jost is someone I think has to do something offensively in this series if the Avs are to have a chance, and he’s not getting much ice time.

Gabriel Bourque (C-) – Took a penalty, was part of the PK unit that got scored on in the second period.

J.T. Compher (A-) – Scored that clutch, late goal in regulation. He’s always been clutch like that, which is why he was on the ice in that situation, despite playing only a little more than 12 minutes overall.

Sam Girard (B+) – Well, just like last year in the first round, it appears as though Girard is injured. He took a big hit from Sam Bennett in OT and went right to the dressing room. As usual, the Avs had no information on the severity of it and we’ll have to wait until Sunday to find out. Hey, I hear there is a pretty good college prospect who might be able to take his place?

Erik Johnson (B) – Had a couple of shaky moments, including on that first Flames goal, but the man played nearly 23 minutes and put seven shots on net. He had negative Corsi numbers, but I thought he battled.

Tyson Barrie (A-) – Played nearly 29 minutes, and had a monster Corsi night. Still having trouble finishing plays offensively, but he was a very good player tonight.

Ian Cole (A) – I loved the snaggle-toothed toughness he brought to the game, even though he took a foolish retaliatory penalty to avenge the Bennett hit on Girard. That could have cost the game. But he more than made up for it with a helper on MacKinnon’s game-winner.

Patrik Nemeth (B+) – Pretty solid game for Broadway, though he didn’t play a ton. I thought he battled hard in the corners.

Nikita Zadorov (C+) – His Corsi numbers were good, but he was caught a bit out of position on Calgary’s goal that made it 2-1, and he took an interference penalty midway through the third.

Philipp Grubauer (A+) – Great game for Grooooob. Made some great saves late as part of his 35-save performance. That was his second career playoff victory.