Avs Game 28 Grades: Ugly Wins Count the Same

So, I’m going to give a bit of a disclaimer here, I’m giving these games under the caveat of.. everyone was pretty rusty following a 16-day break. Nobody was perfect, the players know that, and I understand the flow of how these types of games go, so there’s no sense in beating up on guys who were very obviously trying to get back to game speed.

If you think these are maybe a bit on the high side.. they are. Again, it’s all relative, and there’s a ton of context to appreciate here.

Jack Johnson – C-

While there was plenty of sloppy play and decisions with the puck, the effort was there pretty much across the board, and Jack Johnson definitely fits into that description. His pairing certainly struggled tonight; JJ was active and was trying to have a positive impact. Liked some parts of his game tonight, even if it wasn’t great overall.

Bowen Byram – C

I honestly hardly noticed him, and I mean that in a good way. The team as a whole had been off for more than two weeks, and it was even longer for Byram. I thought he jumped right back in and looked like he belonged. He wasn’t shying away from contact and seemed to be his confident self. Great to see for him.

Erik Johnson – D+

Ok, I’m not going to pile on him, because I think he had a very similar night to Jack Johnson, but he gets a slightly lower grade because of how badly he got beat to the net on the second goal. Just can’t have that on the PK.

Devon Toews – B

What can you say about this guy, he is a legitimate 1D in the NHL. The Avs were struggling to break through on John Gibson, and it was Toews who finally got the team going. He gets it done on all 200′ of the ice.

Cale Makar – B-

He wasn’t quite as impactful as Toews tonight, but he made several great plays offensively and defensively. Makar was throwing his weight around a bit and made a beautiful play to spring the game-winning odd-man rush with less than 90 seconds to go.

Nicolas Aubé-Kubel – C

Thought his line had good energy. It’s very rarely super-clean when his line is getting it done, but he stood out to me in the first period as being one of the guys who had his legs going, even if the crispness of their pay wasn’t there. And no egregious penalties! Yay!

Tyson Jost – C

I love when Jost plays with an edge, and I thought he did that tonight. Players like Jost are key in games like this. Since you don’t really expect much out of him offensively, you can look to him to get the team going with his effort and persistence on the puck. I thought he did that well tonight and helped his team keep the energy up.

Alex Newhook – D+

He seemed to struggle more than most in terms of shaking the rust. I’m not saying he was “bad”, he just wasn’t quite what we’ve come to expect recently. He’ll bounce back for sure, but he’s gotta be stronger on his stick on that first Anaheim goal.

Logan O’Connor – B+

Trying not to get too carried away with this one, given that he got the game-winner, but I really did think he was one of the best players all night. Players like LOC are typically the ones who bounce back best after breaks in the action. Effort isn’t something that goes away when you’re not at the rink. Great to see him get rewarded, and it was a beautiful shot too.

Nathan MacKinnon – B

A three-point night. He just continues to find new ways to contribute, and that pass he makes on the game-winner is ridiculous. He said after the game that the whole team had a tough time getting back to game speed, but he continues to make those around him better.

JT Compher – C-

Compher skated on the second line today with Val Nichshkin out, and he was fine. No glaring errors, but he just doesn’t bring the same relentlessness that Val does, which complements that line so well.

Darren Helm – C

The fourth line didn’t get a ton of ice time tonight, so really not much to say. Helm didn’t make any errors that cost his team. Good enough for a perfectly average grade.

Sam Girard – C-

Thought he struggled a bit tonight, again, it wasn’t the effort, but G’s execution really lacked tonight. Add in the fact that he threw a puck over the glass, and it led to a Ducks PP goal, not a great outing for Girard.

Kurtis MacDermid (INC)

He didn’t even play 3 minutes. The team loves him, and I thought he had good energy when he was on the ice, but I can’t even grade what he did out there. It’s incomplete for him today.

Nazem Kadri – C

He had a couple good chances on the Power Play that were stuffed by John Gibson, but at 5v5 his line seemed to struggle. To be fair, his line was the only one that was having to familiarize themselves, with Compher playing in place of Nichushkin.

Gabriel Landeskog – B-

He did what he does well today, go to the net. Landy is another one whose style lends really well to these types of games. He plays in the dirty areas and is very good at it. He punched home a rebound to tie the game in the third and put his team in position to get the game-winner later on.

Andre Burakovsky – C-

I’ve talked about this line twice already, no need to repeat. Not worried about this being an issue, they just to clean up more than most others based on what we saw today.

Mikko Rantanen – B

Mikko has always had the ability to be a quiet point-getter. I don’t remember a ton that he did in this game in terms of positives, yet he still came away with a goal and two assists. His empty-netter was impressive too, falling down, from his own zone, dead-center of the net.

Darcy Kuemper – B+

I thought he was great today. Maybe don’t love that first goal? Otherwise, though, he did everything you needed him to. Kuemper was easily the biggest factor in the Avs having a chance to come back and win that game, as he out-dueled John Gibson when it was all said and done.