Avs Game 15 Grades: Nightmare on Victory Avenue

Erik Johnson – B-

I actually felt like EJ was one of the better Avs tonight. I liked his defense and I saw him at least trying to press some offense when he saw opportunities. His best rush of the night ended in him being tripped and it not being called. That feels like a decent snapshot of the night.

Cale Makar – C-

The shot metrics are pretty good but the same way I used to ding Tyson Barrie for QBing a failing PP, that now falls on Makar. The PP went 0-7 tonight and didn’t generate many scoring chances, energy, or even real interest most of the night. Makar struggled handling pucks at the blueline and continues to make a case for Girard as the QB of the top PP unit.

Matt Calvert – C

I thought the fourth line was bad at even strength but good on the PK. Calvert drew a penalty on the PK when he just outworked multiple Stars and they had to commit illegal infractions to stop the buzzsaw. Even strength work still counts, however, and the Avs got beat up there.

Jayson Megna – INC

Call it a cop-out if you want but 4:54 of ice time just isn’t enough to give somebody a grade. I do not understand the point of this approach.

Valeri Nichushkin – D

He was in position for a scoring chance or two but his 84th straight game without a goal came and went without him finding twine. I thought he was awful at even strength and I frequently find myself frustrated by how many close calls he seems to have. Near-misses are still misses, after all.

Nikita Zadorov – D

Another game, another penalty. Zadorov was very high-event tonight but Dallas got the better of the quality. Part of that was on Zadorov as he struggled with the puck on his stick tonight and offense found ways to die.

Tyson Jost – D

The ice time was up. The shot metrics were great again. But where is the production? If there was ever a time to step up and prove you belong in a team’s top six, two-thirds of the top line missing is it! And yet all we get is more process, no finish. Positive process is always a good thing but the reason it’s good is because it’s supposed to lead to positive results. Until those results are more than orange slices, Jost is a player whose “could be” continues to outpace his “is.”

Ryan Graves – D

Didn’t love this one from 27. He struggled clearing pucks at times, looked shaky offensively, and showed off the trouble foot speed that gets him in trouble when he’s made a bad read.

Ian Cole – C-

As always, there are a couple of players who I simply didn’t notice much. Tonight, Cole was one of them. The only time I really remember seeing him was right after Faksa’s second goal as he loudly and angrily protested to the official that Faksa had scored with a broken stick. The shot metrics do not tell a pretty story, however, so I’m giving him the minus here.

Nathan MacKinnon – C+

The Avs were better with MacKinnon on the ice than just about anybody else tonight. That’s good! He’s their best player, that’s how this is supposed to work. It didn’t result in any points, however, and Dallas is more than happy to have that outcome. He looks like a boy who lost his dog right now. There’s no joy in his game, only anger. He needs to center his chi or something.

J.T. Compher – B

The shot metrics are slightly negative but his goal was a rocket, the kind of pure snipe we’ve come to believe should be a normal occurrence for him. Somehow it was just his second goal of the season but I also loved a lot of the little things he did well tonight. He has struggled offensively, like most of his teammates lately, but tonight should be a positive for him on a personal note.

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – C-

Like Cole, Bellemare was a guy I didn’t notice too much tonight. I do remember his blocking his own team’s breakout in the first period and ultimately it didn’t matter and led to nothing from the Stars. 30% in the faceoff circle certainly isn’t what the Avs are after from him.

Samuel Girard – F

This is primarily on the back of the TWO turnovers on the first shift of the game. You have to be ready to play and Girard clearly was not. Dickinson even tried to bail him out after the first turnover and Girard just gave it riiiiiiight back. Very frustrating sequence. You can’t put your team in that hole just 19 seconds in.

Joonas Donskoi – C+

I like some of his puck possession abilities and think he’s a really intriguing multi-faceted player. Overall, though, his ceiling sure appears obvious and Colorado has not solved their top-six forward problem with Donskoi’s addition, as solid as he is overall.

Vladislav Kamenev – C+

He took a tripping penalty that led to the third Dallas goal but he snagged an assist on the Compher goal and for a player who has gone through so much to get back on the ice, I’m giving him a little love for the positive play tonight. Now do more of that.

Matt Nieto – C+

Nieto is being asked to play above his head next to MacKinnon but he continues to chug along and work hard, producing positive shot metrics wherever he lands. He’s one of the few Avs who doesn’t seem to have any glaringly poor nights recently.

Nazem Kadri – D

Much more is expected of this guy, especially on the power play without two of the big guns. He seems reticent to shoot and I don’t know if that’s being coached out of him or what because his finishing ability was lethal his entire Toronto career. Now he seems so pedestrian in the same situation in Colorado. Why?

Andre Burakovsky – D

Bleh. That’s just how I tend to feel about his game when he’s not flashy that wide array of offensive abilities. Tonight he just felt stuck in neutral. This was the forgettable Washington version of Burakovsky that scared me when he was brought over. He’s capable of a lot more but he needs to win back some ice time as he played just 6:42 of even strength. Like Jost, this so far has been a botched chance to prove he is a bonafide top-six forward in the NHL.

Philipp Grubauer – B-

Hard to fault Grubauer too much on most of the goals against him. That said, it does feel like he’s due for a night where he just steals a game and helps the lethargic team in front of him out a little. He certainly hasn’t played poorly but he hasn’t been outstanding either. I guess I just want to see flashes of the special goaltender we saw last year down the stretch when he willed the Avs to a victory or two they maybe didn’t otherwise deserve. They could use that lift right now.