Avs Game 20 Grades: Slopfest

Anton Blidh – B

Well, breakaways and good scoring chances are not his things, but he’s been spending a lot more time in the offensive end than defensive, and that’s all you want from a fourth liner.

Andrew Cogliano – C

Had some good passes early in the evening, hitting Compher in stride for a rush in the first period. After that, a pretty quiet night, but wasn’t on the ice for any goals against at even strength.

J.T. Compher – C

The man managed to be on the ice for two shot attempts by the Jets, and they both went in. How’s that for luck? Was not a fan of him on the powerplay but also was not a fan of the powerplay at all, in general.

Jean-Luc Foudy – C-

I don’t think his penalty was a bad one because he just got shoved from behind and went into the opposing player off-balance, but you take an offensive zone penalty and the coaches won’t be happy. Took a big hit on his first shift but did like his game for the most part. Nice drive to the net in the third. Had an ugly turnover along the wall that the coaches won’t like.

Alex Galchenyuk – D

Might be an adjustment for him, but no shot attempts at even strength and seemed to disappear as the game went on in terms of usage.

Alexandar Georgiev – D

Sure, it was not all him, but five goals on 20 shots isn’t going to look good on the stat sheet. The first goal beat him cleanly. He looked scrambly for most of the game but did battle in the third as best as he could.

Sam Girard – D+

Second game in a row he’s double-clutched on a good chance in the slot. The defense on the fourth Jets goal was not ideal, with the missed slide not only missing the pass but taking out your goalie too.

Dryden Hunt – C

The effort was there and got a fair bit of ice time due to the blowout. At one point in the third, missed a chance at a rebound and looked into the sky with frustration.

Erik Johnson – C-

Loved his game early, as he was one of the few guys with jump and had some chances to score as well, but definitely faded as the game went on, and the fifth goal was a little all over the place. He also looked exhausted, as it should have been an easy clear by Makar for him to change.

Artturi Lehkonen – C-

He’s picking up points on the powerplay, but he’s not involved in any way and would like to see the Avs utilize him more. They were looking for the tip play in front with him early in the year and it’s been a while since we’ve seen that. Had some of their better looks at even strength.

Jacob MacDonald – C

I do like that he loves to shoot the puck from pretty much anywhere, but he gets tunnel vision at times with the shot. At one point in the third, had a guy open in the slot but was skating along the wall and only looking for the shot.

Nathan MacKinnon – D

Kind of stopped skating on the back check for the third Jets goal and didn’t realize until the last second that Wheeler was open. The powerplay was ugly tonight, with a lot of shots but shots from the outside that weren’t very dangerous.

Cale Makar – D

Looked on fire early, with some spinning in the offensive zone that looked like it was going to set up a great chance until Newhook whiffed on it. But defensively, it was not there, and the fifth goal was not pretty. I think he’s starting to get a bit of a reputation for diving with refs, as they’re not calling trips on him.

Josh Manson – C–

There were turnovers, as there usually are at this point, but he was hitting everything that moved all night long. Threw a huge hit along the wall in the first period on Brown that looked to shake him up a bit, and wanted to rumble with Dillon but the refs, for whatever reason, didn’t want it to happen. Another unfortunate pinch on the fourth Jets goal, but that wasn’t as bad because it looked like he had help, it was just a guy going to the bench exhausted.

Jayson Megna – C

He played over 10 minutes. That’s all you need to know about how that game went.

Alex Newhook – D+

Whiffed on a great chance early and never recovered. His only shot attempt at five on five was a puck that bounced off his stick toward the net and wide. He really needs to start firing it. Had a nice defensive play on Scheifele early along the wall to create a turnover, but really didn’t do much with the puck.

Logan O’Connor – C-

Like EJ, loved his start, as he had a shift early where he maintained possession in the offensive zone for a while and created a few turnovers. Got caught out on a really long shift on the fourth Jets goal that helped create their odd-man rush.

Mikko Rantanen – D

Unfortunately the stick to the face last week has slowed down his mojo a little bit, as he hasn’t really looked the same. Was not much of a factor at even strength.

Devon Toews – C–

Nice job jumping in and forcing the Jets to take a penalty just because he forechecked with the rest of the team changing. Only one goal for the year is a little surprising. With so many forwards out, they could use some offense from him.