Avs Game 32 Grades - Perfect Road Game

The Avalanche played a perfect road game in Chicago, ending Patrick Kane‘s point streak and shutting out the Blackhawks 3-0.

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

Tyson Barrie (A) – Barrie had a tremendous game, and not just offensively.  He was active with his stick in the defensive zone and helped break the puck out.  He hasn’t had enough games like that this season, so hopefully it continues.

Francois Beauchemin (A) – And now…we wait.  Beauchemin was a rock tonight, until Andrew Shaw decided to launch himself into Beauchemin’s head.  He missed the last portion of the game and we’ll have to wait and see how he feels tomorrow.

Blake Comeau (A) – Three “A’s” to start out?  Well, lots of guys played great tonight.  Comeau hustled to beat an icing and then fed Redmond for a nice backdoor goal.  He was also tremendous defensively, facing tough competition again.

Matt Duchene (A-) – The puck was slipping off his stick a bit tonight when he was getting ready to release it, but you want to see him be a bit more selfish.  His goal looked like it might have been a pass to MacKinnon that got deflected.

Mikhail Grigorenko (D) – The 4th line had a really rough night, and after icing the puck in the third period, Grigorenko didn’t touch the ice again.

Nate Guenin (F) – This guy is a mess, and it’s worrisome that with Beauchemin’s injury, he may be playing more.  He had three turnovers on his first shift alone, and couldn’t do anything with the puck tonight.

Nick Holden (A) – A tremendous game for Holden.  He threw a nice hit on Kane early in the night, and then saved a goal with good stick work in the third period.

Jarome Iginla (C) – That line is really poorly constructed, but Mitchell is doing a lot of the heavy lifting out there.  Iginla’s skating has looked a little better the last two games.

Erik Johnson (A) – I don’t think EJ left the ice much the last half of the game.  He was a rock defensively and had some nice clears on the early PK.

Gabriel Landeskog (A+) – That game was vintage Landeskog.  He was shooting from everywhere, hitting everything, and working his butt off defensively.  He deserved that empty net goal.

Nathan MacKinnon (A) – MacK was great at both ends of the ice, and it was nice to see him get a few assists as a reward.  He hit the post twice and was causing a lot of problems for the Hawks in the first two periods.

Andreas Martinsen (C+) – He threw a big hit on Roszival early in the game, which is what he needs to do.  He was pretty quiet the rest of the night.

Cody McLeod (C) – Quiet night for McLeod.  He wasn’t very noticeable when he was out there, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

John Mitchell (B+) – He did a great job carrying the two old men he has on his wing.  He’s forced to cover a lot of ice with those two, and he did a great job with that tonight.

Zach Redmond (C+) – He scored a big goal in the second period, right after coming off the bench.  Unfortunately, he had some rough moments in the defensive zone, which is what scares Roy a lot.  He had a few turnovers, and then covered a 2 on 1 very poorly, before Varly bailed him out.

Jack Skille (D) – Skille took a bad penalty in the third period, shooting the puck over the boards after the 4th line got stuck on the ice after an icing.  He’s had better nights.

Carl Soderberg (A) – I love watching Soderberg play hockey.  He’s calm with the puck, and his stick work is tremendous.  He’s been much better playing the role of shut down center than I thought he would.

Semyon Varlamov (A) – For whatever reason, Varlamov seems to own the Chicago Blackhawks.  He was on his game again tonight, and while he didn’t have to make as many amazing saves as he has in past Chicago games, he was really good and the Avs fed off his play.

Alex Tanguay (D) – Tanguay had some nice plays on the penalty kill, but he looks awful on the power play, and turned it over a few times tonight, killing any chances they had.

The Avs return home on Thursday night to face the red hot New York Islanders.  The game starts at 7 PM MST.