Avs Game 10 Grades: Finn for the Win

Bowen Byram – C

He’s been making some risky plays on the breakout that are starting to lead to some turnovers. The Avs encourage him to make plays, which is the right way to develop defensemen, but he just hasn’t executed them all. Luckily, he bailed himself out a bit in the first when he tied up the defender’s stick at the last second after his mistake. Georgiev’s diving stick save also saved him a good bit.

Andrew Cogliano – C+

Looked like they might have lost him in the first when he took a blindside hit and missed the rest of the period. Did come back and played pretty well, but seemed to miss a wide-open net shorthanded in the second period.

J.T. Compher – B

Finally gets himself on the board with a great tip on what looked like a set play with Toews, as Compher was calling for the low shot he could get his stick on. Did like his play for the most part, but another one of his patented zero shot attempt games at even strength.

Alexander Georgiev – B-

The Avs PK ended up finishing pretty well, but a lot of that was thanks to Georgiev, as he made his biggest stops of the night on the penalty kill. His other big-time save was on a Laine breakaway, which makes up for the one that got through his legs in the second.

Samuel Girard – D+

Great job drawing the penalty killers away from Toews on the Compher goal. Beyond that, the struggles continue. Covered no one on the Blue Jackets third goal and didn’t look pretty in the process. None of his shot attempts managed to get through to the net.

Dryden Hunt – D+

I’m assuming it was his physicality that got him moved up in the second half of the game, but not sure why it happened, as Kaut was playing well in that spot for once. The double minor high sticking penalty could have been very costly.

Erik Johnson – B

His wiggle on the ice in the second period was a joy to watch. Beyond that, a good EJ game these days is one where you don’t notice him a whole lot. Had a nice breakout on the opening goal and ended up with strong on-ice numbers.

When you lie down for bed but feel something move underneath you pic.twitter.com/SqwGk6QXJu

— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) November 4, 2022

Martin Kaut – B

Kind of strange that he got moved down the lineup right after he nearly scored his first of the year on a nice tip play. Had the best shot share numbers on the team. Did get caught out for a while on a PK shift but worked hard and not much came of it from the Blue Jackets.

Artturi Lehkonen – C-

Seemed to really struggle with the puck, losing it in his feet a good bit. They just need more offensively from him at even strength. Did do some great work along the boards on the Makar goal.

Mikhail Maltsev – INC

I’ve liked his play. He’s smart defensively, smart with the puck, but gets no ice time. I really don’t know what they want from him and what he has to do to earn more ice time.

Jacob MacDonald – INC

Can’t play as little as he did and make such a negative impact. He’s out of position on breakouts that lead to icings, and yet another penalty for cross-checking.

Nathan MacKinnon – A

Not quite sure what he said to the refs to get the extra two, but had a bigger issue with how he seemed to ease up a bit when Nyquist got the puck, which caused him to take the penalty. But who am I kidding? A four-assist night and wasn’t on the ice for any even strength goals against. Hard to argue with that.

Cale Makar – A

Looked a bit more like himself at both ends of the ice, with some great sticks in the defensive zone, including a steal and clear of Gaudreau on the penalty kill, and finally got some finish in the offensive zone on a very difficult cross-body one-timer.

Josh Manson – C

Got burned pretty bad to the outside by Nyquist on a rush in the third that Georgiev had to make a big save on. Outside of that, a pretty quiet game other than getting in the face of Roslovic for his poke on Georgiev in the first.

Alex Newhook – B-

Nice to see him get going early with a nice primary assist on LOC’s goal. Hit the post late in the game on a real good look. On the Blue Jackets third goal, he was the center on the ice, and there were two Blue Jackets players in front with only Girard, so not quite sure where he was on that.

Logan O’Connor – B

Great shot to get things started, although it was tough to tell if it was tipped or not by the Blue Jackets defender. Like seeing angry LOC, as he was fired up when Roslovic poked Georgiev after the whistle.

Mikko Rantanen – A+

Can you write it any better than that? A hat trick and could have easily had a few more, as he had other good looks throughout the night. His one time from the wall is perfect, and when you see him go bar down as much as he does, you want to see it more. What’s he going to do for an encore?

Evan Rodrigues – A

No clue how long this is going to last, or if the bubble will burst at some point, but he’s been a good fit on the top line and has the speed to keep up with them. Made a great play to outwork the Blue Jackets defender on the Rantanen game winner.

Devon Toews – A

Blue Jackets did very little offensively when Toews was on the ice at even strength. Great shot for the tip on the Compher goal, as we saw the 3D power play work for the very first time.