Avs Game 41 Grades - Halfway Through the Horror

The Colorado Avalanche blew another very winnable game that they were leading in the 3rd period, dropping this one to the Nashville Predators 3-2.

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

Tyson Barrie (C+) – Tyson had the puck in the offensive zone after making some nice moves, but was knocked off the puck rather easily by McLeod just prior to the Preds tying goal.  He had the puck in a decent shooting spot but chose to take the puck down near the corner instead of shooting.

Francois Beauchemin (B) – Can’t really complain about Beauchemin’s game tonight.  Scored a goal on a nice shot and had strong possession numbers on the evening.  He also wasn’t directly responsible for a goal, which helps.

Rene Bourque (F) – Beyond being useless when he was actually on the ice, he made a poor decision on a bad hit and was correctly ejected from the game in the second period.

Joe Colborne (C) – He was somehow credited with 6 hits in just 8 minutes (don’t remember any of them), but he had one of his better scoring chances in a long time with a shot from the slot that missed the net.

Blake Comeau (C+) – After his debacle last game, he bounced back with a decent effort.  He was strong on the PK today.

Matt Duchene (D+) – His confidence looks down in the dumps, which wouldn’t be the first time in his career.  Got an assist on the opening goal, but passed up numerous shooting opportunities and didn’t finish with a single shot on goal.

Eric Gelinas (D) – He got back into the lineup, but I imagine he’ll be back out on Tuesday after his poor defensive display on the Cody McLeod goal.  That was soft as can be.

Cody Goloubef (B-) – One of his best performances in an Avs uniform.  He made quick decisions and didn’t hurt his team all night.

Mikhail Grigorenko (B-) – Another goal by the Avs which comes off a won faceoff in the offensive zone by Grigorenko.  This one was perfectly places back to Beauchemin.

Jarome Iginla (C) – Lots of talk about that fight, and I personally thought it was stupid and served little to no purpose.  Other than that, Iggy was quiet.

Gabriel Landeskog (A) – That was vintage Landeskog, shooting the puck at an absurd rate and playing hard every shift.  He finished with 7 shots on goal, and had more attempts than that.

Nathan MacKinnon (D) – Here’s something you don’t see often: MacKinnon with the worst possession numbers on the team today.  He got mysteriously benched in the second period for a good 10 minutes.  He had some jump after that, but also lost the faceoff leading to the game winner.

Andreas Martinsen (B-) – I thought Marty had a good game today, and that was without a big hit or anything like that.  Just strong play, and was skating through the neutral zone.

Matt Nieto (B-) – He made a really strong play to protect the puck and cycle it on Landeskog’s goal.  The rest of his game was a little quiet but the Avs did good things with him out there, and he was good on the PK.

Mikko Rantanen (D) – I don’t think Bednar will be happy with Rantanen just skating by Forsberg on the game winner and not trying to do anything.  He had a tough night overall, and that line seemed to suffer without Landeskog.

Carl Soderberg (C-) – He just can’t seem to get it going all the way.  He had some good chances early in the second period, but also ruined a power play by taking a penalty just a few seconds into it.

Semyon Varlamov (C-) – He was good in the first period, and looked in the zone, as the Preds were throwing a lot of perimeter shots at the net, but he definitely should have stopped the puck from getting across to McLeod on the first goal, and he looked asleep, like the rest of the team, on the game winner.

Fedor Tyutin (D) – The penalty call on him was pretty weak, but his game has really deteriorated over the last month.  The Avs can’t really bench him either, because they want to get something for him at the deadline.

Nikita Zadorov (A-) – Definitely their best defenseman, with his only real problems being a few plays on the power play.  The hit on Forsberg in the first looked unintentional and awkward, but the 20 second span where he stopped a breakaway and then proceeded to blow up James Neal in the third was beautiful.

The Avalanche are back at it on Tuesday night when they take on the Chicago Blackhawks.  The game starts at 7 PM MST.