Avs Game 22 Grades - Late Push Not Enough

The Avalanche put over 40 shots towards the net in the third period against the Ottawa Senators, but were unable to get the game tying goal and fell by the score of 5-3.

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

Tyson Barrie (C+) – Barrie was the Avs best possession player tonight, but that might have been because it didn’t seem like he left the ice in the third period.  His first two periods were not his best, as he got caught up ice on a few odd man rushes, but when he pushes the play, he’s a tough player for other teams to handle.

Francois Beauchemin (B) – The veteran defenseman had a solid game, and tried to contribute to the offense.  I really like how he tries to shoot off the boards for a bounce into the slot when he doesn’t have a lane to get it through.

Blake Comeau (B) – He looked a little bit more like the Comeau we saw at the start of the year who was hitting everything.  He had some nice big hits in the offensive zone against Methot and Karlsson.  He sometimes has a tendency to hold onto the puck too long, like John Mitchell.

Matt Duchene (A) – Duchene was probably the Avs best player all night, and was easily their best in the opening period.  He walked through Cody Ceci and almost banked a puck off Anderson and in towards the end of the first period, and he kept going all night.

Dennis Everberg (C+) – I thought Everberg had a solid game.  He stood up Karlsson, which caused a turnover and allowed Wagner to take the puck the other way and score.  He had some nice shifts in the 2nd, including a big shot block on Karlsson.  Unfortunately, both he and Skille were stapled to the bench most of the second half of the game.

Brandon Gormley (C-) – It was a very up and down game for Gormley.  He was too weak on Prince for the second Ottawa goal, and allowed Smith to come around the net for the fourth goal.  However, he did a nice job jumping into the play on the Wagner goal, and that helped create it.  He also had a really strong breakout against pressure in the third period.

Mikhail Grigorenko (C) – I really dislike the way his line is constructed, as there just isn’t enough speed on the line and it shows.  He missed his assignment on the backcheck for the third Ottawa goal.  I really did like his work on the power play tonight, and it seems Roy likes what he’s doing there as well.  He’s not afraid to shoot the puck from the half wall.

Nick Holden (B-) – I thought Holden was good for the most part tonight.  His breakout passes were not great, as they were often too high off the ice for anyone to do anything with them, but he did a good job covering for Barrie most of the night.

Jarome Iginla (F) – I really hate the way Iginla is playing right now.  He’s soft on the puck, and a liability defensively.  Once he’s been taken away from some of the better offensive players on the team, his inability to create anything for himself has become very apparent.

Erik Johnson (B-) – Outside of a very obvious high sticking penalty in the third period, EJ had a strong game.  I don’t understand why he played less than 20 minutes though.

Gabriel Landeskog (B+) – His first 40 minutes were pretty average, but he went full Viking Mode in the third period.  I was really happy to see the Avs power play take advantage of the high tip with Landeskog, and his tremendous forecheck created the MacKinnon goal.  He almost had a goal in the second period, but hit the post.

Nathan MacKinnon (B) – I’m only going to give him a B because I don’t think he was very good through 40 minutes, easily the worst player on his line.  He had some pretty poor turnovers early in the game.  However, in the third period he was dominant and almost helped bring his team back.

Andreas Martinsen (D) – I really did not like his game tonight.  The only thing saving him from a lower grade is his big hit in the third period, which helped give the Avs some momentum.  I have mentioned it before but I don’t like his defensive game, as I think he’s too soft in his own end and generally, just looks lost on that half of the ice.

Cody McLeod (F) – McLeod managed to ice the puck twice in the first 90 seconds of the game, and added another icing in the second period.  I did not like his game at all tonight, and thought he was a liability on his line.  Not a good follow up from a string of good games for McLeod.

Zach Redmond (D) – Redmond has looked good since entering the lineup, but tonight was not his night.  He got beat to the outside on the second goal, and then lazily swung his stick at the puck instead of being harder on it, allowing it to get past him on the Sens fourth goal.

Jack Skille (C-) – Skille missed a wide open net in the second period on what could have been a game changing play.  Like Everberg, he was stapled to the bench most of the second half of the game.

Carl Soderberg (B) – Outside of the faceoff cricle, which has been a consistent issue for him, he had another strong game.  He showed off his puck skills in the second period, as he dangled around Jared Cowen and almost scored on a wrap around.  His willingness to take the puck to the net is welcome on this team.

Semyon Varlamov (D) – Patrick Roy hasn’t been afraid to criticize Varlamov this year, and he did again after this game.  The first goal by Ottawa was incredibly weak, just squeaking through his legs on a harmless shot from the boards.  I was surprised he got pulled after the third goal, but Roy clearly isn’t happy with his starter, who hasn’t been able to put together a stretch of good games this year.

Chris Wagner (B+) – The scrappy young center earned his first career NHL goal, by putting the puck on net and then following up his own rebound.  He also had another great shift in the third period that almost resulted in another goal.  Outside of that shift, I don’t recall seeing him again in the third, which doesn’t make sense, considering how he played the rest of the night.

The Avs face off against the Winnipeg Jets at home on Saturday.  The game begins at 8 PM MST.