Avs Game 25 Grades - It's a Start

The Colorado Avalanche got on the board first, a rarity for them this year, and never looked back, coming up with a huge 4-2 victory over the Boston Bruins.

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

Tyson Barrie (C) – I thought Barrie did some better things defensively tonight, but he struggled with the puck, turning it over a few times in transition and in the offensive zone.

Francois Beauchemin (B) – His last game was a disaster, so tonight was a huge improvement.  He made some strong defensive plays, including a sliding block late in the game after Goloubef got beat.

Rene Bourque (C+) – Bourque made a few nice defensive plays in the neutral zone, breaking up passes and forcing the Bruins to restart their breakout.  He was pretty quiet offensively otherwise.

Joe Colborne (C) – The offense isn’t there, but the effort is much better.  He had a few shifts where he was able to control the puck down low behind the net.  The next step is actually getting it to the net.

Blake Comeau (C) – A very quiet game for Comeau after a few weeks of really strong play.  The penalties in his game have more or less gone away, which is nice.

Matt Duchene (B+) – Another road game, another road goal for Mr. Duchene.  He’s now on pace for well over 30 goals this year.  On a team that struggles to score, that’s huge.

Cody Goloubef (C) – It would have been hard for him to look worse than he did in his debut.  There were still some poor passes in the defensive zone that led to turnovers, but no penalties and nothing that ended up in the back of his net.

Mikhail Grigorenko (B-) – That pass to Soderberg on his goal was a thing of beauty, and frankly, only a few Avs can make it.  The rest of his game isn’t all the way there, but maybe that pass can get him going.

Jarome Iginla (C) – He was the third wheel on his line again tonight, and was very quiet.  I don’t recall him getting open on the power play either.

Nathan MacKinnon (B) – That shorthanded goal was absurd.  I thought he was shooting it way too early, but shows what I know.  Love seeing him kill penalties, because he’s such a weapon there.

Andreas Martinsen (C+) – I’m wondering why his penalty kill ice time has disappeared in favor of Colborne, who I don’t think is as effective as him on the PK.  His forechecking is still a bit inconsistent but the effort is there.

Cody McLeod (C+) – If you don’t notice McLeod, he’s probably had a decent night, but his best moment came when he turned down a fight in the 3rd period that might have given Boston some life.

John Mitchell (B+) – He’s on the board!  Part of the reason why he wasn’t scoring is because he wasn’t even shooting.  He’s only got 18 shots on goal this year, but it was nice for him to get one.

Calvin Pickard (B+) – A very strong game for Pickard, with his best save coming in the 3rd period on Bergeron in the slot.  He’s probably going to get a chance to go on a run here and that starts Saturday.

Mikko Rantanen (C) – Shoot the puck, Mikko.  There was too much perimeter play from him tonight, but he did have a few good moments down low behind the net.

Carl Soderberg (B) – Soderberg needs to play like that more often.  He had some fire in the second period, both on the shift just prior to him scoring and on his goal shift.  He made a huge shot block late in the game as well.

Patrick Wiercioch (C-) – Someone has to cover the guy coming out of the box after a power play, and it looks like Wiercioch spaced on that one.  He didn’t even play terrible tonight, but he was probably the weakest defenseman.

Fedor Tyutin (C-) – He looked a little slow coming off a lower body injury.  It’s a little concerning that he keeps missing games here and there with minor injuries.

Nikita Zadorov (B) – He seems to be embracing the increased responsibilities, judging from his post game interview.  He was really physical in the third, particularly against Brad Marchand, who went after him after the whistle late in the game.  That’s when you know Z is on his game.

The Avalanche continue their road trip in Montreal on Saturday.  The game starts at 5 PM MST.