Avs Game 23 Grades - Huge Home Victory

The Avs were able to hold off the Winnipeg Jets for only their third home victory of the season, coming out on top 5-3.

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

Andrew Agozzino (A) – Agozzino made an impression at both ends of the ice, and forced coach Roy to move him up in the lineup.  He was strong defensively, including several great backchecks to cover for defenders, and had some chances offensively.  He finished the game with the best possession numbers on the Avs, and brought some much needed speed to the third line once he was moved up.

Tyson Barrie (B-) – Barrie had some nice controlled breakouts from the defensive zone tonight, but I didn’t like his work on the power play.  He didn’t shoot the puck on the power play tonight, which makes it far too easy to defend.

Francois Beauchemin (B+) – He did it again, with another nice bank pass off the offensive zone boards and it created another goal.  I mentioned it after last game, and it’s something I hope the other defenders start trying when they don’t have a shooting lane.  He was real steady defensively tonight.

Blake Comeau (B) – Comeau got burned badly on the Jets third goal, but he was a monster on his goal scoring shift, throwing a big hit in the defensive zone, and then stealing the puck at center ice for a breakaway.

Matt Duchene (A) – The right wing has been good to Mr. Duchene, and he put up another three points tonight.  He also was 6 for 7 in the faceoff circle.  The top line is hard for other teams to handle, at the moment.

Brandon Gormley (D) – Not a great night for Gormley.  He displayed his fantastic gap control prior to the Avs game winner, but beyond that, had a rough night, and helped deflect the Jets first goal of the night in the net.

Mikhail Grigorenko (D) – Through 38 minutes, it was a terrible showing for Grigorenko.  As soon as Martinsen got off that line, they looked a lot better, as Agozzino’s speed is needed there.  He had a tremendous shift at the end of the second period where he should have drawn a penalty.  Unfortunately, he had a few turnovers tonight, and one of them led to the Jets shorthanded goal.

Nick Holden (C) – Holden was far too passive on the Jets short handed goal, as he gave Burmistrov too much time to make a pass and it cost him.  Other than that, he was OK and had a few nice hits.

Jarome Iginla (D-) – He really does not look good right now, especially in the defensive zone.  On the Jets first goal, Iginla had the puck, but instead of skating it himself, or dumping it out to center ice, he gave Grigorenko a pass when he was already covered, and it led to a turnover, which allowed the Jets to score.  His effort in the defensive zone hasn’t been good enough.  I couldn’t give him an F after his fight, although the timing was a bit questionable.

Erik Johnson (B+) – He was the best defenseman on the ice for the Avs this evening, and had the best possession numbers among the defenders.  He had an issue hitting the net on the power play in the second period, but made some nice plays to keep the puck in the zone.

Gabriel Landeskog (A-) – Landy had a few turnovers early in the game, but he made up for it, and was fantastic on the backcheck throughout the game.  A lot of his work goes unnoticed because he’s definitely the least flashy player on the top line, but he’s doing a lot of dirty work defensively for the other two.

Nathan MacKinnon (A-) – He was only credited with one shot on goal, but that’s because he was missing the net on a lot of his glorious chances, including a breakaway in the second period.  His speed and stickhandling were on display all night.

Andreas Martinsen (D-) – Getting him out of the top nine will be good for him, especially since he’ll provide some size on the 4th line.  He was horrible for most of the night, but did a nice job going to the net on the Avs game winner.

Cody McLeod (C) – Other than a few more icings, which McLeod does far too often, he was alright tonight, and didn’t hurt the team.

Zach Redmond (D+) – When Redmond tries to do too much, he gets in trouble.  A few times tonight he tried to stickhandle through the Jets, or hold onto the puck too long, and it got him trouble.  He recovered nicely in the first period after a bad giveaway, by taking out Perreault with a big hit and forcing the Jets offsides before they could break in.

Jack Skille (B) – Tonight was the Jack Skille we saw earlier in the year, as he created a few chances, and his great work as the third man high in the offensive zone led to the Avs game winning goal.

Carl Soderberg (B+) – Have you ever seen someone look more calm when scoring a breakaway goal?  That was a nice display of skill and composure by Soderberg.  I also really liked his defensive work, as he broke up quite a few plays in the Avs end and on the penalty kill.

Semyon Varlamov (B) – I thought Varly had a solid night.  Roy wasn’t a big fan of the third goal by the Jets, but sometimes great players make great plays, and I think Trouba did just that.  The first goal was flukey and nothing he could really do.

Chris Wagner (A) – This is looking like a nice little pickup.  He provides speed, energy, and a bit of skill to the 4th line.  Other than his goal, he created some chances on a few other shifts, and got under the skin of Blake Wheeler after throwing a pretty big hit on him a little after a whistle.

The Avs hit the road again, as they head to Brooklyn to take on the New York Islanders on Monday night.  The game starts at 5 PM MST.