Avs Game 32 Grades: Another message sent

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – A+

Should have known, a game against Vegas was going to mean a big game from Belly. Now he’s on a bit of a tear after struggling to score for the longest time, with two goals in his last three games. Could have had another with his breakaway early in the night.

Andre Burakovsky – F

Talk about a rough one from Burky. Every single thing went wrong for him. He couldn’t corral the puck at the defensive blue line to exit the zone, leading to extended zone time for his line, and he completely botched a few powerplay entries with terrible passes. It was a tough one for him where he looked pretty out of it.

Bo Byram – C-

I love that Byram is willing to take hits to make plays, but tonight, he took a lot of them, and one of them nearly led to him getting knocked out of the game with an injury. He returned, but hopefully he can hold up. There was a good bit of chasing around in his own end, and he still looks indecisive offensively. At one point, his instincts kicked in to join a rush, and he slowed down to look back at Girard, who told him to keep going. Those things will come in time.

J.T. Compher – A+

The time away seems to have done Compher well, as he has looked better each time he’s been in the lineup. Tonight was arguably his best game of the year. He passed up a good chance early in the game to get it to MacKinnon, but hopefully his backhand goal just shows that sometimes putting it on net isn’t the worst thing. Tonight was a good reminder that when he moves, he’s a great skater and tough to handle.

Joonas Donskoi – A

It’s a total Donskoi game to miss on some big chances and then the weirdest shot of the night for him finds its way into the net. He seems extremely confident with the puck on his stick right now and is helping keep that third line going a bit with his puck skills.

Samuel Girard – C

Vegas seemed to know his every move and hit him every time he got the puck. Even his passes were getting deflected, including his patented back pass to Toews on the powerplay. It was actually a deflected pass across that ended up being his assist in the game.

Ryan Graves – B

Graves gets a high grade, if for nothing else, the jersey drop with Ryan Reaves. Love the swagger.

Philipp Grubauer – A-

First shot of the game being a breakaway can’t be easy, especially a backhand, which is hard enough to read on its own. After that, he really didn’t have to do a ton, and some of his best stops came early in the third period when Vegas seemed to try to make a push. Another steady game.

Tyson Jost – C

I don’t think Jost had his best game with the puck, and he didn’t even attempt a shot himself, so he wasn’t driving the play a ton, but love seeing him frustrate the other team just by going to the net. He seems to be embracing the new role.

Nazem Kadri – D

I had a feeling Naz was going to take a penalty when Pacioretty gave him the business in the corner, and he did. That line did nothing offensively, and I didn’t like them much there, but I did appreciate Kadri’s competitiveness defensively and his willingness to get nasty when he wasn’t taking a penalty.

Gabriel Landeskog – B

Gabe really seemed to struggle with the puck in the first period, with some fumbles and bad passes, but I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it, when he scores from in front of the net, it brings me joy. It seems like 80% of his goals this year have been right in the crease, and that’s what the top line needs sometimes.

Jacob MacDonald – F

Total bummer that he got hurt blocking a shot early in the third, but he was having a wild game before that, and not in a good way. Lots of turnovers and just poor decisions all over the place. He deserves a chance to bounce back, however, if he’s healthy for the next one.

Nathan MacKinnon – B-

Some poor decisions with the puck on the powerplay, but one thing I really want to see him do is drive the net. In the third, he had both defensemen beat and could have taken it to the net, but passed it off to Mikko, who seemed surprised. That’s one you want him to take to the net.

Cale Makar – B

Really rough first period and even the start of the second wasn’t pretty. His shots were getting blocked consistently on the powerplay, and outside of a nice rush in the first, he looked out of it. Then he burst past everyone for his goal, and you remembered how special he was. He had a breakout in the third, where he just avoided two forechecking Vegas forwards trying to hit him that was perfect.

Valeri Nichushkin – B+

I loved Nuke again, and he’s very valuable against a bigger team like Vegas, even if he doesn’t play super physical all the time. The Avs did not surrender a single shot on net with him on the ice at even strength.

Logan O’Connor – A+

Last game was a disappointment, but he got another chance in there with Calvert getting the night off, and he did not disappoint at all. A fantastic night from him, hitting Makar with speed for his goal and could have even had his own on a breakaway in the third. Hit Bellemare for a breakaway early in the night as well.

Mikko Rantanen – B-

I love that he keeps trying to go for the bank shot off the goalie. He tried to do it to Fleury in the second and it didn’t work this time. Not his most dominant effort, and considering how his March has gone, it’s more of a surprise he didn’t score than anything.

Brandon Saad – F

A complete no-show of a game. Kind of disappointing because that’s two nights in a row where I have not really noticed him at all. The mojo of that line has been lost a bit the last few nights.

Devon Toews – B

Another ho-hum dominant shot share evening for Toews. Hit the crossbar early in a rush that I’m not even sure how he read to jump in, but somehow, it led to him getting a breakaway. Just a sign of his hockey sense.