Avs Game 41 Grades: Demons Destroyed

Pierre Edouard Bellemare – C

Bellemare was solid without his Calvert companion but was a bit quieter tonight. He had a few quality moments and was rock solid when it came to possession metrics. Winning 75% of his faceoffs is part of what he was brought in to do and helped locked things down while the Avs were leading.

Andre Burakovsky – C-

On a night where Avs forwards were pouring it on, Burakovsky disappeared a bit too much. Granted, part of that may have been his new linemates of Bellemare and Jost. He did pick up an assist and ring a post in the third period but had just 11:55 of ice time, second-lowest on the team. Some inconsistency from Burakovsky is expected, especially with limited ice time but he needs to start putting the puck in the net again soon.

Matt Calvert – C+

You pretty much know what you are going to get every single night with Calvert. All hustle, no quit with rock-solid possession numbers. He snagged an assist tonight as well early in the game and continues to roll on at pace beyond what he has ever done before.

Ian Cole – C+

Cole was fairly quiet tonight and that is generally a good thing for his role on the team. He did pull a fast one with a greasy stick grab enticing the refs to call a penalty on Schwartz instead of himself. That PP would lead to the Avs’ sixth goal of the game, leaving no room for doubt. It wasn’t a perfectly clean game as he doesn’t have a 40-inch vertical but the Avs will take that out of him every night.

J.T. Compher – B-

Compher puttered along nicely in a bit of an expanded role in this game getting top-six equivalent minutes and putting four shots on goal himself. He would also knock in the game certainty goal on the PP in the third. A puck in the net means it was a good night for him.

Joonas Donskoi – B+

Donskoi was excellent tonight playing third banana on a line with Nathan MacKinnon. His ability to generate quality chances is off the charts and the PDO gods finally saw fit to give him what he deserved with a garbage-time goal.

Samuel Girard – A

This was easily Girard’s best game of the season to date. La Tornade was in full force, his confidence both in his feet and his distribution of the puck were evident and he made the most of almost every situation both in the offensive zone and on the breakout. He did take an interference call that led to a goal against and made this a game once again but that ended up being a small blemish on a fantastic night.

Ryan Graves – C-

Despite leading the Avs in TOI, Graves was fairly ineffective in the offensive zone and seemed to be fighting the puck at times tonight with a couple of giveaways. He also got caught a time or two with slow feet and was unable to keep up. Nothing egregious here, just maybe shouldn’t have been your number one minute muncher.

Philipp Grubauer – C

That was a performance I would quantify as good enough for Grubauer. Neither of the goals in the second period were quality from him. One a miscommunication and awkward situation with a defenseman and the other a puck he failed to track right off the faceoff. Still, he held it down and didn’t relinquish the all-important third goal until the game was well in hand. He got the goal support so it ends up being a non-story.

Erik Johnson – C-

Johnson was probably the Avs weakest defenseman on the night. He had quite a few puck issues in his own zone and was the low man on the defensive totem pole for TOI. Much like Graves nothing egregious here but he was not someone the Avs relied on tonight.

Nazem Kadri – A

That is the Nazem Kadri the Avs need. Take no prisoners, no holds barred, an offensive man on a mission to put the puck in the back of the net. This was 30-goal Nazem Kadri; he doesn’t have to be that guy every night but the Avs need to see it more. As always he was effective at the faceoff dot as well.

Tyson Jost – C+

Another game with great process from Jost but no results. He led the team in possession metrics but somehow still managed to end up a minus on the night and was the low man in TOI playing under 11 minutes. It’s a broken record for Jost at this point. The skill seems to be there but the production isn’t. With little room for more opportunity on this team, he seems stuck.

Gabriel Landeskog – B-

Landeskog existed to be the defensively responsible forward on the Avs top line while Donskoi did his hard-working job and Nathan MacKinnon was Nathan MacKinnon. He chipped in an assist on Compher’s goal by getting the puck to the net and continues to be a stabilizing force for the Avs.

Nathan MacKinnon – A+

MacKinnon is the night terror that haunts Brayden Schenn’s dreams as he sailed by him to score the first goal of the game on a breakaway. That was an MVP caliber performance from the Avs’ best player top to bottom.

Cale Makar – A-

A new look PP on the 5 on 3 had Makar and MacKinnon switched allowing Makar to facilitate from the half wall and eventually set up Mikko Rantanen for a goal. Then he finally got a puck to go post-in during the dying moments of the second period to put the Avs squarely back in the driver’s seat. He had an oopsie in garbage time but the kid is special.

Valeri Nichushkin – C

Nichushkin just keeps plugging away as he picks up an assist in this one. A new look line of Kadri, Calvert, and Val got the job done as Kadri took the reigns. Val didn’t stand out much but he also didn’t get in the way.

Matt Nieto – C-

Other than a super chintzy call against him I didn’t notice Nieto much. Mikko stole the show on his line. He was also the low man on the team when it comes to possession metrics. A bit of a victim of the line juggling I suspect.

Mikko Rantanen – B+

Maybe the best Rantanen has looked in weeks, it’s a very encouraging thought that he can be effective when he is the best player on his line. He notched a big goal on the 5 on 3 for the Avs with his uncanny ability to get one-timers off from awkward positions. Seeming more confident on his skates than he has been since coming back from the ankle injury this would be a nice boost for the Avs if it continues.

Nikita Zadorov – C

Zadorov had a bit of a weird game. His possession metrics weren’t great but he still did his thing in the first half dolling out some physical punishment. Then he took a puck to the boot on the PK and basically became an immobile pylon for the rest of that shift and never quite looked right from then on out. He did finish out the game so hopefully it’s nothing more than a stinger.