Avs Game 26 Grades: Mikko's Back

Pierre Edouard Bellemare – B

Outside of the delay of game late, Bellemare had a solid game overall. There was a scare with him blocking a shot but he seemed to make it okay. A dominant night in the face-off circle, winning 11 of 15.

Ian Cole – A

Cole has not been perfect on the penalty kill recently, but he did great tonight, blocking six shots on the evening, many of them on the PK, and springing Graves before Donskoi’s goal early in the second period. Both he and Zadorov played the entire 2:37 of PK to start the second period, and that was a turning point in this one.

J.T. Compher – B

They can’t all be three-point evenings for Compher. A quiet, steady game from JTC, and a nice screen on Kadri’s second goal. Did some really solid work on the penalty kill all evening.

Joonas Donskoi – A+

When Landeskog comes back, he may have to settle in on Kadri’s left side, and that’s not the worst problem in the world to have for the Avs. Donskoi with another four-point game, and he’s on pace for almost 70 points on the year. He has frustrating moments, but he’s a good third wheel to two talented linemates.

Samuel Girard – A+

I loved Girard’s game all night long. He needed something to go right for him offensively, and he picked up two assists on this one. Loved his defensive game all night too. But how can we ignore that fight? You have to love seeing some fire from Girard, who’s looked great the last three games.

Ryan Graves – B

People were upset about the penalty in the crowd, but it looked pretty clear to me. Who cares, though? Because he came out of the box and set up the game-winning goal, so it was all part of the plan, right?

Philipp Grubauer – B-

Grubauer had that glove working overtime in this one, making some ridiculous saves and showing some swag at the same time. I really didn’t like all three of the goals though, as two went five-hole and the first one went through his arm.

Nazem Kadri – A

I didn’t love the backcheck on the first goal of the game but love the response. He brings some swagger to this team and continues to produce big-time goals. He also won a whopping 10 of his 11 face-offs on the evening. He’s been a difference-maker.

Vladislav Kamenev – C

Won all of his face-offs, but the momentum he had created earlier has seemingly gone away, as he’s fumbling pucks more often than not. The penalty late, even in garbage time, isn’t a good look for a guy battling for his spot.

Tyson Jost – B+

Jost was a little invisible most of the night, and then he scored his goal and decided to go YOLO all over the ice. In the third period, he looked extremely confident with the puck, trying to go between his legs and nearly pulled it off.

Nathan MacKinnon – A+

At this point, what do you say? He’s carrying this team and now he’s got his Big Moose back. Because of how big of a blowout it was, he only had to play 12 minutes overall. Easy night at the office for 29.

Cale Makar – C

Makar threw a massive hit right before the Blackhawks’ second goal, but kind of took himself out of position to make it, as the guy coming down his wing picked up the puck and scored. In a blowout game, Makar was relatively quiet, registering zero shots on goal.

Valeri Nichushkin – B

I hope the bad juju is not back with him, as he got completely robbed at the end of the second period. Another hard-working, strong night from big #13.

Matt Nieto – B

He’s the Swiss army knife in the lineup right now, as he’s moving all over the place, and ended up on the second line tonight, picking up an assist on Kadri’s second goal. A strong night on the PK for him.

Logan O’Connor – B

I liked O’Connor again tonight, although there were fewer bursts overall. Maybe it was because of the blowout, but the coaching staff using him in the 5 on 3 penalty kill shows some confidence in LOC. He did have a nice backdoor breakup before Kane scored late.

Mikko Rantanen – A+

Boy is it nice to have this guy back, isn’t it? A four-point night in just 10 minutes of ice time, and they just let him go home early, as he didn’t even suit up for the third period. The NHL is just too easy for the Big Moose. He embarrassed Connor Murphy on his goal.

Calle Rosen – C

Rosen looks like he can play in the NHL, and his puck movement has been very efficient, for the most part. He did get burned early in the game and had to be bailed out by Grubauer’s glove hand. Once he gets moving, he can fly, but there seem to be some issues with him pivoting defensively.

T.J. Tynan – B

Congratulations to him on his first NHL point, and I’m pretty sure they can’t take that one away from him. The coaching staff does seem to trust this guy, so it’ll be interesting to see how things shake out when everyone’s healthy, but he should head right back to the Eagles to help them.

Nikita Zadorov – B+

Kane wanted nothing to do with Zadorov, giving up the puck whenever Z would approach him and even icing it one time. Zadorov looks much more focused knowing he’s got a guy to shut down, and the fishbowl has him playing very controlled overall. Look for a piece on Monday about how the Avs need to use him moving forward.