Avs Game 22 Grades: End of a road trip strikes again

Pierre Edouard Bellemare – C-

Bellemare was brought in to win face-offs, and he’s been getting better of late, but he lost a face-off pretty cleanly halfway through the third period that ended up being the biggest face-off of the game, as the Wild scored the game-winning goal just seconds later. He went 36% overall on the evening on the dot.

Andre Burakovsky – B

Burakovsky picked up a few more assists in this one and continues to produce points, but just a few things to nitpick with him. His biggest issue this year has been catching the puck, holding on a half-second too long, and then shooting. This allows the goalies to get into position, as well as a defenseman to get over. That’s what happened late when the puck got to Burakovsky when the Wild were scrambling. It’s just a minor thing I’d like to see him improve on, and I really feel like I’m grasping at straws here. Incredible pickup so far.

Ian Cole – C-

He got pounded pretty badly in terms of possession numbers in this one, and score effects didn’t have much to do with it. I didn’t think he was that bad. He had an issue that a few guys had on defense, particularly the penalty kill, with the clearing attempts that just don’t get out. One of them nearly cost them in the first period.

J.T. Compher – B

Compher had a strong game, even if it didn’t show up on the stat sheet. He won a good portion of his face-offs, and he took a lot of them tonight, and nearly tied the game up late. I like that he was shooting the puck tonight, with seven shot attempts overall. He was one of their more consistent performers in this one.

Joonas Donskoi – C-

He set up Compher for the play late that hit the post, but otherwise, it felt like it was a quieter night for him. He’s usually much better breaking the puck out of his end and there were just some miscues in this one. A penalty 200 feet away from your own net is a big no-no.

Samuel Girard – D

Things are tough for Sam right now. He did make a nice play on the second Makar goal to pick up an assist, but the giveaway just prior to the Wild scoring their second goal was rough because he tried to force it up the middle when he had an option on the wall. It’s just too risky, and he needs to keep it simple sometimes. I don’t really blame him for the game-winner, although if he’s going to try to block the pass, he needs to actually block it.

Ryan Graves – C-

Graves was the king of the “cleared but not out” play tonight, with several failed clears on the PK. The Wild got lucky with their first goal but Graves had been out there a long time and went full out to block the shot that ended up going around him.

Philipp Grubauer – B-

This is a tough one to pin on Grubauer. He was the reason they were in it for a long time, as the Avs looked completely out of it for the first half of the game, but the last goal looks iffy. He makes an awesome save on Staal and then loses the puck completely. Maybe he thought the puck was in the net, or out of play, but it’s tough for the game-winner to come on a play like that. Overall, he was certainly not the reason they lost.

Erik Johnson – C

EJ had some issues with the puck in this one, and that may just be the norm moving forward, but I really didn’t hate his play, and I think he did quite well in his own end. You have to respect how much he gives up his body on the penalty kill, and he did it a few times tonight with Dumba, who can launch the puck.

Nazem Kadri – D

Kadri was frustrating tonight. His face-off ability is literally creating goals, as it did on the second Makar goal, but there was a lot I didn’t like about him in this one. The penalty in the first period was very obvious, and can’t happen in the offensive zone, and I really didn’t like his play in the offensive zone tonight. They have tried to force this Kadri/MacKinnon pair at times and it doesn’t seem like there’s a ton of chemistry there.

Vladislav Kamenev – C-

Tonight was a step back for Kamenev tonight, as he had some issues with the puck along the boards in the defensive zone. I did like his play at the end of the first to just throw it at the net with traffic. Even with his issues, I know I’d rather have him out there more than Tynan trying to tie the game.

Nathan MacKinnon – C

MacKinnon was rather ordinary in this one and got pummeled in the face-off circle. He still did pick up an assist and seems to get a point every single night, but sometimes he’s not going to carry the team to victory and that’s the way it is. I did feel like he passed up the puck a little too much at times tonight. The way he’s reffed with the puck is confusing. He should draw way more penalties than he does.

Cale Makar – A+

At this point, how do you explain it? Two more goals and the second one embarrassed the entire Wild team. He nearly went coast to coast to tie it late in this one and did everything he could to get this one to overtime. He’s a freak.

Jayson Megna – D

If you’re going to play limited minutes, you can’t hurt the team, and a guy playing so little taking a penalty just isn’t good enough.

Valeri Nichushkin – C-

His lack of finish was obvious in this one, but while he’s normally solid defensively, he got caught flat-footed on the game-winning goal and let Suter walk in from the point to create it.

Matt Nieto – C-

The forwards played a big role in that game-winning goal and with all the switches, Nieto was stuck having to go way down low to cover Staal and he couldn’t get there in time. Everyone is punching above their weight in the bottom six right now and Nieto doesn’t have a point in five games, with only three shots on goal to show for it.

Logan O’Connor – C-

I didn’t hate O’Connor trying to fire up the team late in the first, as the Avs were just flat, but it ultimately didn’t work. He got pummeled in the possession game overall and that fourth line didn’t do much.

T.J. Tynan – D

I’m kind of at a loss for words as to how he got promoted. I really haven’t had any issues with him since the call-up, but he took a penalty in this one where he was flailing around on the ice and then got promoted to the top nine when the Avs were down by one. He didn’t create a single shot attempt either.

Nikita Zadorov – C

Z was fine overall in this one. He didn’t make any egregious mistakes and has been pretty consistent over the last three games. He really makes it difficult for the other team to enter the zone with any control, whether at even strength or the power play. He made a nice break up on Fiala just chasing him down on a power play zone entry.