Avs Game 36 Grades: Francouz shines

Darcy Kuemper – INC

Never got a chance to really get into the game despite playing into the second period. He was doing okay even with the first goal against but then Greenway smoked him and the concussion protocol took place. Just hope he’s okay.

Pavel Francouz – A

It’s hard for a goalie to come in cold to a competitive game and find his way. Francouz was okay early on but lights out by the end. He got a little lucky in overtime but that makes up for the bad luck on the game-tying goal, where the puck found its way to Kaprizov’s stick where he couldn’t get to it. Amazing job in the shootout.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel – D

A game that ended up as a physical grind would seem to be right in NAK’s wheelhouse but he didn’t have much of an impact. Would have loved to see him embrace that increased temperature more than he did.

Andre Burakovsky – C

Are we sure he played? Jokes aside, he had a couple of solid scoring chances that he didn’t cash but I didn’t think he was bad today, just a quiet overall performance.

J.T. Compher – D

Has completely disappeared. He has just one point since the calendar flipped to 2022. Where you saw Minnesota’s role players stepping up throughout, Compher is one of several Avs who seemed to shrink from the moment.

Samuel Girard – C-

I really liked Girard from center ice forward but he rode the strugglebus in his own zone pretty hard today. He was beaten wide by Fiala, something that should never happen to a skater of Girard’s acumen.

Erik Johnson – B

Loved him defensively and on the PK. He battled hard and set a tone for that side of the ice and the others mostly fell in line. Worthless offensive performance but I loved his defense enough to not care.

Jack Johnson – D

I wrote that he really stood out against Arizona and against a quality team such as the Wild, he was exposed pretty badly. The Avs need another guy to help limit the minutes of the Johnsons.

Tyson Jost – C-

Fourth line got caved and they didn’t do a lot. The other two I expect little out of, but Jost finding something at even strength would’ve been nice.

Nazem Kadri – B

Even in games he’s not scoring, I think he’s setting such a great emotional edge. He’s comfortable playing in an atmosphere where he knows he has to be on his best behavior and he’s thriving.

Gabe Landeskog – C

A huge drop from his linemates as I thought he was demonstrably worse. Terrible play on the game-tying goal for him to get cute and try to make a little play with the puck. Hard and out has been winning games in the NHL for a long time. That was an easy clear. Also didn’t look comfortable in overtime at all.

Kurtis MacDermid – A

He’s getting an A here because he was acquired primarily for the reason of beating up opposing players who took liberties with Avalanche players. He did just that when he rocked Jordan Greenway after Greenway ran Kuemper. He understands his job and today we saw it in action.

Nathan MacKinnon – A

Did not have any major issues with 29 today. I loved his game. He probably got away with interference when he smoked Ryan Hartman for seemingly no reason late in the game but everyone hates Ryan Hartman so the officials didn’t seem to mind much. A major star performance from MacKinnon overall with a three-point effort.

Cale Makar – B

He was a really high-event player today and that’s usually not a good sign. I thought his level was down a bit and his work with the puck was just okay. Defensively I liked him more than normal as I thought he was really good in his own end. Physical games bring out a certain snarl in Makar and he’s more comfortable in it than I expect.

Mikhail Maltsev – C

This was a step back after what I thought were two really solid efforts. He didn’t make any mistakes or do anything poorly, he just didn’t make any kind of real impact.

Alex Newhook – B

He’s been really quiet lately and he missed the net twice in the same exact spot where he eventually scored his goal. He nailed it, though, and that’s a big contribution from your 3C in a game that was ultimately decided by the stars.

Logan O’Connor – D

Turnovers, poor puck management, and mental errors all plagued LOC’s game today. His quiet games almost never happen like this so it was kind of shocking to see him play just so poorly.

Mikko Rantanen – A

Rantanen is a guy who needs games to get gritty sometimes to really bring out his best. He was on the verge of being called for a really dumb interference penalty but Goligoski’s decision to pretend he had been sniped bailed Mikko out. Gotta love the finish from Rantanen. It’s what makes him special to begin with.

Kiefer Sherwood – C-

I didn’t notice him at all but his shot metrics were quite bad for someone who played so little, so I’ll err on the slightest of negative grades.

Devon Toews – B

Would love to see him being a little more dangerous on the power play as his shots are sailing wide as he maybe looks for a deflection instead of a clean shooting lane. Solid overall defense. Tough break on the third goal against that Toews knocks down and it goes horribly wrong for him.