Avs Game 2 Grades: Flamed out

Bowen Byram – B-

Nice to get on the board early on a weird goal where he just stuck with it, but got caught in no man’s land on the first Flames goal behind the net with Ritchie all alone in front. I guess with the goal you could call him a bright spot, but there wasn’t much bright in this game.

Andrew Cogliano – C

For the second straight game, the third line was analytically fine. Cogliano sure does take a beating, which makes you wonder how this dude played so many consecutive games given his smaller stature.

J.T. Compher – C+

Was far and away the best Avs forward in terms of shot share, but nothing really stood out in terms of dangerous chances. He did see some time on the second line late in the game given Newhook’s struggles.

Pavel Francouz – C

Almost the opposite of what Georgiev dealt with in game one, as Francouz was under attack immediately from the Flames and had to make some big saves just to hold them off as long as he could. Ultimately, he couldn’t hold them off forever. He probably had the best penalty kill clear of the night, and then hit MacKinnon for a breakaway to top it off.

Samuel Girard – C+

Had some chances offensively to get his shot through and was actually able to do so a few times. More than anything, been pretty happy with how he’s been moving coming off a pretty major injury. Took some hits in this game as well.

Erik Johnson – D

Team got beat up pretty good with EJ on the ice, as he had far and away the lowest shot share numbers of any of the defensemen. Took a penalty that ended up being the goal that more or less iced the game away early in the third period.

Artturi Lehkonen – D

I know he picked up another assist late in the game, but probably one of his worst games with the Avs in terms of playing with the puck on his stick. Was just a little off or behind on everything when it got to him. Top line is carrying a lot of the load at the moment.

Kurtis MacDermid – INC

Ah, back to the good old INC grades for MacDermid because he didn’t even hit the five-minute threshold.

Nathan MacKinnon – C+

Really came on in the third period and had some flashes late in the second period, but by then, the Flames had been in control of the game. With three days off until their next game, Bednar went crazy and played those guys seemingly every other shift in the third and it almost worked because they were the only line that could do anything offensively. His strength on the puck already looks even better than just a few months ago, as he crushed Dube with a reverse hit in the second.

Cale Makar – D

A tough night with two penalties and he was the lone defender on the ice when Andersson came out of the box for his goal in the second period. I did love seeing him give the reverse hit to a big guy in Lucic, though. Puck doesn’t seem to want to stay on his stick at the moment.

Josh Manson – D+

Did not love his game at even strength, but did still enjoy the physicality he brought, including a big crunching hit on Dube as he entered the zone. Not a big fan of him with EJ as a pair on the PK at the moment.

Ben Meyers – C–

It’s really tough to judge him based off the line he’s being put with, but he hasn’t done much of anything to flash. At the same time, I don’t know how he can flash on that line. He did get a chance late in the game with Compher and Newhook, so obviously the staff knows there’s skill there.

Alex Newhook – F

I feel bad giving him this so early in the year, but this game was a real struggle and the Flames seem to target him physically. Multiple turnovers on the power play with zone entries and just got outmuscled for the puck on the shorthanded goal. Bednar wants to give him a long look as the second line center, but he did try Compher in that spot late. It’s going to be a steep learning curve for him.

Valeri Nichushkin – C-

His best moments came away from that second line and when he got moments with the big guns because even with that second line, he didn’t look that dangerous. It’s unusual to see Nuke get caved in defensively like he has in both games.

Logan O’Connor – C-

You can’t lose your guy if you take a penalty and are sitting in the box, I guess? Pretty quiet game other than that.

Mikko Rantanen – C

Missed a wide-open net in the second period that could have very much changed the game for the better, as the Flames scored soon after. I’ve liked his engagement and he’s distributing the puck like crazy on the powerplay to the point where you don’t mind that he hasn’t unleashed his shot on the wall much yet.

Evan Rodrigues – F

I’m sure it will get better, but it hasn’t been good so far. There hasn’t been any chemistry between him and his linemates and it was kind of surprising to see him get the call as a guy with the net empty.

Lukas Sedlak – C–

His PK time put him over the threshold of time on ice to grade, but unfortunately his big moment on the PK was probably the only time people would have noticed him, and not for good reasons. He was in the right spot, but it was a lot of bad luck the way it played out. Unlike the PK goals in the first game, Sedlak actually did come down and breakup the pass on the back door…only to give it right back to them.

Devon Toews – C

The Flames took some runs at Toews, and something I don’t mind seeing during a long year is a defender like Toews make a business decision to avoid taking a big hit behind his own net. He did that with Lucic in the second. You don’t need one of your best players getting taken out by a much bigger player this early in the year.