Avs Game 41 Grades - Huge Comeback Victory

The Avalanche were down 3-1 in the second period but battled back to tie the game, and eventually pulled out the 4-3 win over the St. Louis Blues in overtime.

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

Tyson Barrie (C+) – Barrie had an awful first period.  He was turning the puck over in his own end, and over handling the puck.  It led to a lot of zone time for the Blues.  He picked it up the rest of the night, and played almost 30 minutes total.

Francois Beauchemin (D+) – The veteran was awful for 95% of the game.  He was losing his guy consistently, and had issues in the defensive zone.  Tarasenko went around him with relative ease for the Blues first goal, and he lost his man on the Blues second goal.  He redeemed himself a good bit in overtime with a tremendous touch pass to John Mitchell right before the winner.

Andrew Bodnarchuk (C) – First impressions are important.  Bodnarchuk played a decent game for a guy not having any practice with his new team.  He found himself on the wrong side of the puck a few times, but he can skate pretty well and didn’t make any glaring mistakes out there.  Watching him tonight, he reminded me a lot of former Avs defenseman Andre Benoit.

Blake Comeau (B) – Comeau was the Avs best possession player on the night, finishing at 63% overall.  He led the team with 7 hits on the night, including a few nice ones in the second period.

Matt Duchene (B) – I don’t think he had a great night overall, but the flashes were brilliant.  Great display of skill on his goal early in the night, and then a tremendous display of how strong he is right before MacKinnon’s tying goal, as he outworked the Blues to get a old of the puck.  His speed burst in overtime was amazing and would have made for a tremendous finish.

Mikhail Grigorenko (C+) – His line had a really rough start to the game, getting pinned in their own end a lot in the first period.  In the second they were better, and he displayed the skill that everyone knows that he has on his rush goal.  Unfortunately, he didn’t see a whole lot of ice time after that, but did get a nice chance in the third period.

Nate Guenin (F) – This man is not an NHL player.  He was atrocious tonight.  In the first period he was holding onto the puck too long in the defensive zone, and would eventually just turn it over.  He ended up taking a penalty, which the Blues scored on.  His first shift in the second period, he turned the puck over to Patrik Berglund, who scored on a 2 on 1.  He should not be in the lineup on Friday night.

Nick Holden (C) – A year ago everyone would have shuttered at the thought of Nick Holden playing 28 minutes, but they needed it tonight because options are really limited on defense.  He stepped up and played relatively well.

Jarome Iginla (C-) – No one played less at even strength on the Avs tonight than Iginla, which is a bit surprising.  He made some mistakes defensively in the first period that probably made Roy limit him.  I’m not sure if he intended to drop the puck to Grigorenko or not but if he did, it was a nice play.

Gabriel Landeskog (C) – Landy is still a little off, and I think it’s pretty clear he’s not 100%.  He made another awful turnover in the first that nearly led to a goal, but his line cycled well for most of the night, and hopefully the overtime winner can get him going.

Nathan MacKinnon (C+) – MacKinnon can be better, and hopefully that late goal tonight can get him going.  He did seem to have a bit more jump in the third period and overtime.

Andreas Martinsen (C+) – Color me surprised that Roy moved him off the top line so quickly.  I don’t think he was playing poorly there.  He went to the third line and immediately helped, making a nice breakout pass to Iginla before Grigorenko’s goal.

Cody McLeod (C+) – The 4th line plays more with Mitchell on it, and that was the case tonight.  McLeod threw a nice hit at center ice on Pietrangelo and did well to kill the clock to get it to overtime.

John Mitchell (C+) – There were far too many times tonight where Mitchell passed up shots, but he does that a lot.  He showed great hustle on the overtime goal to get to the puck before Jake Allen.

Zach Redmond (C) – Redmond had an up and down night, which describes his Avs career.  He made some nice breakout passes, and then got himself in trouble by handling the puck too much at times.

Jack Skille (B) – Skille was probably the Avs most consistent forward on a shift to shift basis.  He hit the crossbar in the second period, and was flying all over the ice.

Carl Soderberg (B-) – The guy is being given some tough defensive matchups and coming out on a top a lot lately.  A great possession night for him at 62% and a nice job screening the goalie on the MacKinnon goal.

Alex Tanguay (F) – I have no idea what he did to deserve being put on the top line halfway through the game.  He’s soft on the puck, turns it over too often, and generally isn’t good defensively.  Grigorenko should replace him on the power play.

Semyon Varlamov (B-) – I think Varly would probably want another shot on that Berglund goal, but he shut the door the rest of the night and made some huge saves in overtime.

The Avs continue their home stand with a huge game on Friday night against the Nashville Predators.  The game starts at 7 PM MST.