Avs Game 13 Grades - Ugly in the Desert

The Avs actually got off to a good start tonight, and were leading in shots 7-2 before a harmless shot from the point got past Varlamov and changed the game.  The Avs were never able to recover and regain their composure, and lost to the Arizona Coyotes 4-2.

How did each player perform?  Let’s find out…

Tyson Barrie (C-) – I’m not sure Tyson Barrie has ever had a 28 minute game in the NHL, but he did tonight.  With Zadorov and Gormley struggling, he was out there a lot and had a sub par game.  He was responsible for both breakaways in the third period, first flubbing a pass to Iginla and then not paying attention to someone getting behind him.  He did some nice things offensively, but I wouldn’t say it was a good night for him.

Francois Beauchemin (C) – An average game from the veteran.  It looked like the Avs might have lost him in the first period, as he missed a few shifts, but he returned and looked fine.  Given how much he’s playing, there is serious concern he will wear down as the year goes on.

Blake Comeau (C) – He had a solid night on the PK, but Grossman was his guy on the first goal of the game.  The Coyotes were moving their players all over the ice, and Grossman moved from the left point to the right point and it seemed to catch Comeau off guard.  He’s just not providing enough offense.

Matt Duchene (B-) – A beautiful goal by Duchene at the end of the game, and quite frankly, should have had another assist if Tanguay didn’t flub the pass on a 2 on 1.  He looks like he’s out of his funk offensively, even if he didn’t do much of anything on the PP.

Dennis Everberg (C) – I still don’t know if his foot tipped that first goal or not, but he needs to get out of the way that close to Varly if he isn’t going to block the shot.  It looked like he hit the post in the second period off a feed from Barrie.

Brandon Gormley (D) – Whether it’s fair or not, he probably won’t be playing tomorrow.  He had an awful giveaway in the first period in his own end and ended up taking a penalty because of it.  After that, his ice time was very limited.

Mikhail Grigorenko (C) – He was flying early in the 1st period, but once the penalty fest started, his ice time was not consistent and he wasn’t very noticeable.  He had a chance to take it to the net in the 1st period, and instead of doing that, decided to feed it to the point to Barrie.  You’d like to see him be more aggressive in those moments.

Nick Holden (C+) – I honestly didn’t notice Holden all that much tonight, so that has to be a good thing, right?  Most nights he does make a dumb mistake or two, but didn’t see too much of that tonight.

Jarome Iginla (D) – I’m begging you, Patrick.  Please take him off the point of the power play.  He is a complete liability back there.  He created nothing offensively tonight to go with his defensive issues.

Erik Johnson (A) – The one shining light tonight.  Johnson looked as good as he has all year, and was flying all night long.  He skated right through the entire Coyotes team for the Avs first goal of the game, and his skating looked great.  This is the EJ the Avs need.

Gabriel Landeskog (D) – Like Iginla, he’s putting up points, but the play does not match the production.  He looks weak on his skates, and is being outmuscled too much.  His passes are just not connecting.  The Captain needs to be doing more.

Nathan MacKinnon (C+) – Given Roy’s comments after the game, it appears MacKinnon will be fine.  Any loss of him would be disastrous for this team.  He took two selfish penalties in the second period, and that’s really the only reason he’s not rated higher.  He had a team high 6 shots on goal.

Cody McLeod (C) – Got a goal just by crashing the net after Johnson did all the work, but then took an awful offensive zone penalty 200 feet from his own net.  That’s the type of stuff he just cannot be doing.

Jack Skille (C) – I wish I could give him a different grade but I cannot say he did much of anything noticeable tonight.  Usually you notice his speed, but not tonight.  I’m surprised he was out there for 15 shifts.

Carl Soderberg (B-) – A quiet night for the big Swede, but the Coyotes only attempted 5 shots at even strength with him out there.  He had a terrific PK shift in the second period.

Ben Street (D) – Not a good game for Street.  He got outmuscled on the third goal for the Coyotes (although there should have never been a rebound), and didn’t do anything all night.  In the third period, the Avs had a chance at an odd man rush and Street flubbed a simple pass.  He can’t be hurting the team but tonight, he did.

Alex Tanguay (F) – It looked like he was going to get back on track after some strong nights, but he looked just as awful tonight as he did the first few games of the year.  No compete level, no battle, nothing.  He had a chance to tie the game up late in the third and missed the net by a good amount on a 2 on 1.

Semyon Varlamov (D) – Some people might disagree with giving Varly such a poor grade after stopping a few breakaways in the third period, but that third goal by the Coyotes is indefensible.  Grossman just floated an unscreened puck towards Varlamov, and he gives up a fat rebound.  That’s just unacceptable.  That goal should have never happened.  Varlamov always seems to struggle against the Coyotes because they get the puck to the point, put traffic in front, and just put it on net.  Sometimes he loses track of the puck in situations like that.

Nikita Zadorov (F) – He returned to the ice after a few games off, and I can’t imagine he will be out there again tomorrow, but you never know.  Just an ugly game for him, outside of a nice hit in the first period.  He tried to skate through three players on the second Coyotes goal, en route to turning the puck over.  He also flubbed the puck prior to the third goal, which led to the chaos.  He was a -3 in only 10 minutes of ice time.

The Avs are back at home tomorrow night against the New York Rangers.  The game starts at 7PM.