Avs Game 35 Grades: How to lose a game in 90 seconds

Pierre Edouard Bellemare – D

Bellemare got beaten for a few pucks along the boards on the game-tying goal, as it came to him a few times and he just got it taken off his stick. In late-game situations, you just cannot have that.

Andre Burakovsky – D

Quiet game from Burakovsky. He had one rush up the ice in the second period that resulted in a nice shot up high on Reimer, but I really did not notice him a lot, and he was very low on the team time on ice tonight.

Matt Calvert – C

A quieter game from Calvert. Just one shot attempt at even strength overall. They looked tired along the boards a lot of the night, to be honest. It happens. That line has been consistently good this year so they’ll be back.

Ian Cole – F

Cole was fine through two periods, but his game went to hell in the third. He got bailed out by Grubauer on one play where he was covering the same guy as EJ and then got outmuscled on the game-tying goal behind the net. The huge mistake, however, was the pinch on the game-winning goal. In a time game, that pinch is pretty unacceptable from a veteran.

J.T. Compher – D

Compher was the third man high on the game-winning goal, and he took a chance to swing at the puck in the high slot and missed it. From there, the entire play went to hell. Compher has a reputation as being good defensively but I think there’s a lot left to be desired at even strength. On the PK, however, he is decent and was again tonight.

Joonas Donskoi – D

Donskoi was the only guy to not finish with a shot attempt at even strength. It’s been a tough week for him. He was an inconsistent guy in San Jose, and he’s avoided that here, so we’ll see how he responds.

Samuel Girard – D

The reality is he’s playing too much right now, and it shows. He played almost 28 minutes in this one, and he’s not built for that. No one on this present Avs defense is. His shot is basically non-existent from the point, so it’s making the power play easier to defend against. He’s picking up some secondary assists on the power play, but the unit as a whole looked brutal tonight. Some ugly turnovers in this one too.

Ryan Graves – C-

I didn’t love Graves’ game tonight. He got beat down in terms of possession all night long and seemed to flub a lot of pucks. He made some poor decisions when rushing the puck, giving it up at the wrong time and turning it over as well.

Philipp Grubauer – A

This doesn’t fall on him at all. Grubauer played great, and then the Avs just stopped playing defense in front of him in the third period. There were multiple guys left wide open and he did his best to get this game to overtime, at the very least. A good bounce-back performance from him.

Erik Johnson – B

Honestly, I liked EJ’s game a lot, for the most part. It seemed like the month off got to him in the third period, but he was moving his feet and seemed eager to do something tonight.

Nazem Kadri – C-

Kadri was fine in the face-off circle but took another penalty a ways away from his own net, and there’s just been too many of those this year. I believe Kadri has more to give at even strength than what he’s shown of late.

Tyson Jost – C-

Jost on the fourth line seems to get chances. I don’t know what it is. But these last two games at even strength I’ve really not noticed him unless he’s getting outmuscled off the puck. He got completely manhandled in the defensive zone down low at one point but Grubauer bailed him out.

Gabriel Landeskog – D

Landy scored the only goal of the game, but the reality is the top line was very pedestrian all night long. They spent a lot of time in their own end in this one, and that’s obviously not good enough. The power play was a mess, and those guys just were not on their game. Took another penalty after turning the puck over.

Anton Lindholm – C-

The staff trusted Lindholm until they didn’t, playing him for a little until going down to four defensemen the final ten minutes. Lindholm had an icing but I really didn’t think he was that bad. His possession numbers were ugly but he’s not going to drive offense in any way.

Nathan MacKinnon – D

MacK decided to do it himself on the only goal of the game, as the power play clearly wasn’t working. The rest of the game, he was very quiet. The Hurricanes held him to just one shot on net at even strength, and they deserve some credit for that.

Valeri Nichushkin – C

Nuke was very up and down. Had a great drive to the net early to draw a penalty, but then ended up turning the puck over a lot leaving the zone. I don’t think he was to blame on the game-winner, as he busted his butt to get back after Compher fell over. The problem was the other defender never got back.

Matt Nieto – C

Nieto ended up with no shots on net, and a generally quiet game from him. He did some decent work on the penalty kill overall but a very low impact game from him.

Mikko Rantanen – D

Mikko’s best play of the night came in the third when he overpowered a defender to get a great backhand shot off but Reimer gloved it down. Other than that, he contributed to the poor power play in this one. Just a sloppy effort from the top line.

Nikita Zadorov – C

I just have to assume something happened that wasn’t on the ice here. His play was fine. He wasn’t perfect, and had one icing in the second I didn’t like, but nothing too egregious. He’s never going to be perfect with the puck. He threw a big hit on El Nino and they both took whacks at each other, and that was the end of it. After that, he didn’t play. We’ll see if the benching continues Saturday night.