Avs Game 28 Grades - Surprise! Another Home Loss

 

The Avalanche blew another game at home that they had a chance to win, giving up two early third period goals on their way to a 4-3 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers.

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

Tyson Barrie (C) – A tale of two games for Barrie.  He was god awful the first half, with turnovers galore and mistakes in his own end, but something clicked halfway through and he turned it on.  I don’t think he’s put together more than one or two complete games this season.

Francois Beauchemin (D) – I’m not even mad at the 4th goal.  A good player came down against him with a ton of speed.  He never had a chance.  I’m annoyed with the constant backhand turnovers he makes in the defensive zone when he’s trying to make a fancy breakout pass.  He doesn’t know his limitations.

Rene Bourque (C) – He’s a great story, but when the puck is on his stick longer than 2 seconds, his lack of skill is evident.  All his goals are off smart, simple plays, but that turnover on the 3rd goal was painful.

Blake Comeau (C) – That line did more good things but cannot bury any goals when they’re together.  The offensive zone penalty at the end of the 1st was not good.

Matt Duchene (B) – Two more goals going to the net.  It was nice to see him get on the board at home.  He was also dominant in the faceoff circle.  I do think he lost Simmonds on the Flyers 2nd goal, as he was with Simmonds at the offensive blueline and just stopped looking.

Eric Gelinas (C-) – I don’t think the guy is very good, but this is the time to give him a chance and evaluate him with EJ out.  He makes some really questionable passes leaving the Avs zone but they need to utilize his shot more.  He really could have done a better job evaluating the situation on the Simmonds goal.  His awareness was really lacking.

Mikhail Grigorenko (C-) – He lost his guy on the Flyers first goal, and also failed to catch a pass about 10 seconds prior to the Flyers third goal that led to a turnover.  He did make a nice play on the second Duchene goal though.

Jarome Iginla (C-) – It blows my mind that the Avs are constantly force feeding a guy with 3 goals on the year the puck in key situations.  Teams aren’t even worried about it either, as they give them that play.

Gabriel Landeskog (B) – That hit was insane, and he beat the crap out of Voracek after.  It’s too bad the team didn’t get anything from the energy and gave up two goals early in the third.  He did some nice board work prior to Duchene’s first goal.

Nathan MacKinnon (C+) – I think the veteran Claude Giroux got the best of MacK a good bit tonight, but MacK still had flashes.  His game is rounding out nicely but sometimes when you go head to head against great players, the other players get the better of you.

Andreas Martinsen (D) – I think he’s really gone back to the inconsistent Martinsen we saw last year after a strong start.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he finds himself getting scratched at some point.

Cody McLeod (C) – 6 minutes of pretty uneventful hockey for McLeod.  Nothing much to really say there.

John Mitchell (C) – I didn’t really see his penalty in real time, and they never showed a replay, but a penalty when your team has an offensive odd man rush is not ideal.  As I said with Comeau, that line is doing a lot of good things in the offensive zone but there’s no finish at all.

Calvin Pickard (C) – He made some tremendous saves, like just before the first goal for the Flyers, but he just kind of slid out of the net.  The fourth goal was just a good player making a great play, and sometimes you get beat on those.

Mikko Rantanen (D-) – I feel pretty confident in saying that was Rantanen’s worst game in the NHL this year.  He couldn’t catch a pass to save his life, especially on defensive zone exits, and looked like he might have been shying away from contact.  He did leave last game a bit with a shoulder injury.  The assist on the last goal helped.

Carl Soderberg (B-) – He got the primary assist on the Bourque goal on a won faceoff, and I liked a lot of what he did down low, especially in the 3rd period.  He did finish with positive possession numbers, which has been rare for him this year.

Patrick Wiercioch (C-) – Him falling over with no one around him with only a few minutes left, and then compounding the problem by panicking and icing the puck was tough to watch.  He was getting pucks through early in the year but hasn’t of late.  Only 1 point in his last 13 games.

Fedor Tyutin (C-) – I liked his game a good bit prior to his injury but he has struggled a bit since then.  I still like him more than Beauchemin, as he knows his limitations.

Nikita Zadorov (B) – He’s been their best defenseman since EJ went down, and while that isn’t saying a ton, it’s encouraging.  He had the best possession numbers on the team tonight, and picked up another primary assist, tying him with Duchene and MacKinnon at even strength with 4.  He’s certainly not perfect, but the people calling for him to be in the AHL are way off.

The Avs continue on the home ice with a game against the Florida Panthers on Friday.  It starts at 7 PM MST.