Avs Game 30 Grades: No-Fly Zone

Darcy Kuemper – A

Gave up just the one goal. The rest almost doesn’t even matter, right? You’re asking a goaltender to stop pucks and Kuemper stopped 34 of 35 shots. He appeared to get stronger as the game progressed and when the Jets tried to make it interesting in the third period with the Avs leading 4-1, he didn’t budge. He was definitely the Kuemperor tonight.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel – F

Another penalty and got obliterated in fancystats. Playing alongside Alex Newhook, it’s obvious there’s a hard ceiling to his offense. He did make one really nice move for a quality scoring chance but otherwise spent the rest of the game chasing pucks and getting worked.

Andre Burakovsky – B+

Had his legs going early on and it showed. Burakovsky is a guy who is a completely different animal when he’s fully engaged. He was that tonight and him finishing with two assists wasn’t fluky at all. He played quality hockey throughout.

Bowen Byram – B+

You know what I love about Byram? Besides most everything, I mean. He had kind of a ‘quiet’ night and finished with two points that could have been three had he not rang a blistering shot off the post. Another excellent all-around performance. What little Byram played on the PK suggested he should be getting more looks at it.

J.T. Compher – D

I just didn’t like Compher’s game at all. Him side-swiping Ehlers late in the game felt very unnecessary and Ehlers responded. Compher didn’t do much offensively and wasn’t very good on the PK. When his offense isn’t rolling, he’s still struggling to make his mark.

Samuel Girard – B

I felt coming in it was going to be a ‘Sam Girard Night’ and while that didn’t really pan out (he did finish with an assist), he played very good hockey in his own end. He’s at his best defensively when he’s quickly transitioning pucks out of his own zone and he was fantastic at that tonight. The suppression was excellent from Girard if only because pucks were in and right back out when he was out there.

Darren Helm – D

Got crushed on the penalty kill and didn’t add much at even strength. Unfortunately, nights like this have been the norm for Helm this year. He’s way overhandling pucks, especially on offense. Quick decisions from a veteran should be a given. Why is Helm struggling so much?

Erik Johnson –  A

This was a classic EJ game. Two assists were great, but I loved his defensive work at even strength. His PK was still bad, but he made up for it with his play everywhere else. There were multiple occasions where I watched EJ outwork or outmuscle a Jets forward in the defensive zone and the puck was out and up the ice immediately. This throwback version of EJ is fun when we see it.

Tyson Jost – D

Other than him getting lit up on the PK and then taking friendly fire from MacDermid late in the game, I didn’t really notice Jost at all. His minutes are way down with him struggling quite a bit lately.

Nazem Kadri – B

I loved his energy throughout and his goal settled the Avs down a ton. They really got comfy in the game after Kadri tied things up. I couldn’t help but laugh when he tried to go 1v4 on offense while the Avs changed lines. Confidence is a hell of a drug.

Gabe Landeskog – A+

A hat trick and a very good all-around game from the captain. Three goals, one assist, five shots, four hits, and a great postgame quote in which he said Cale Makar should’ve won the Norris Trophy last year. That’s a pretty good night.

Kurtis MacDermid – D

So I’m torn here. This year is an evolution of my mindset as a hockey observer as I try to lend credence to the idea that MacDermid is useful for teams for his nastiness and the fear he instills in others. I still find it a dubious proposition but watching MacDermid commit obvious goaltender interference and not get a single Jets player aggressively getting in his face does speak to the fear/respect factor he brings to the ice. He still took two dumb penalties and played terribly, but that fear factor was on bright display after he ran Hellebuyck.

Nathan MacKinnon – A+

There isn’t a high enough grade for MacKinnon. A five-point night, including the elusive goal, speaks for itself. Special player on a special night.

Cale Makar – C

I thought Makar struggled a lot more in this game than the Globetrotter-esque performance he put on in Chicago two nights ago. One reason? He was given a tougher overall assignment, being split from MacKinnon more than usual and getting more defensive zone work than normal. If the Avs start leaning on Makar more defensively, he needs to respond a touch better than tonight, but it was a fine effort.

Ryan Murray – C

He hasn’t played in a while so I’m giving him quite a bit of leeway here. His biggest oof of the night came when a puck hit the boards and just died as Murray was clearly expecting it to keep coming to him. The puck dying put Murray in no man’s land and Kuemper made a great save on Ehlers on a 3-on-1 on the other end because of the play. Other than that, I didn’t have a big problem with Murray.

Alex Newhook – B-

For a rookie like Newhook, I’m paying tons of attention to his details. His best plays to my eye came when he zipped through traffic at center ice and created some offense out of nothing and him outmuscling a Jets forward behind Kuemper and stealing the puck and immediately breaking it out of the defensive zone. In a game where he went scoreless, the details really stood out in a good way.

Logan O’Connor – B

Led the Avs forwards in ice time (fun fact!) tonight but was one of just four Avs to fail to register a single shot on goal. I loved LOC’s energy and his penchant for drawing penalties was alive and well. People just can’t get enough of hitting him in the face. As long as he’s cool with it, so am I.

Mikko Rantanen – A+

There’s so much cutesy nonsense in his game that drives me crazy and he’s still an elite player who has every right to ignore my criticisms. That he can casually drop a three-point night and not ever look like he got out of second gear is a testament to his absurd skill level. He was the ‘quiet’ guy on his line tonight with just one goal and two assists. Lol.

Devon Toews – C+

One of the rare nights where I didn’t think Toews was awesome. Outside of his participation in a truly porous PK, I thought he was fine at even strength. He just didn’t do anything that really jumped off the ice to me tonight, which is rare. Just solid, boring, effective hockey.