Avs Game 44 Grades - Abomination at Home

The Avalanche played arguably their worst game of the season, as they were dominated from start to finish, and lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-0.

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

Tyson Barrie (F) – Some nights, your best players don’t have it, and Barrie didn’t have it tonight.  He was caught looking in the defensive zone on a few goals, and didn’t do much to push the pace, as the Lightning focused in on him when the Avs tried to break out.

Francois Beauchemin (D) – It’s hard to tell if he missed EJ that much, or if playing with an AHL defenseman is making him look bad, but he has been exposed in the last 4 games, and tonight was another rough one for him.

Andrew Bodnarchuk (F) – He is being overused, but the claim never made sense from the beginning, and still does not to this day.  He’s extremely small out there, and does not react well against a forecheck.

Blake Comeau (C) – Comeau was one of the better forwards tonight but it was one of those nights where he just refuses to shoot the puck, and it’s frustrating.

Matt Duchene (B-) – Probably the best forward, but not saying much.  There was no reason at all for him to pass up a breakaway chance to give it to Alex Tanguay.  None.  He ended the game at center, so we’ll see if that lasts beyond tonight.

Mikhail Grigorenko (D) – A fairly invisible game from Grigorenko tonight, which may end with him sitting in the press box next game, even though there were far worse offenders out there.

Nate Guenin (D) – He is what he is, and that’s a terrible hockey player.  It appears the Avs coaching staff and front office are the only people that have not caught on.

Nick Holden (D) – He, along with his partner Tyson Barrie, were caught watching on two goals this evening, as the forwards they were supposed to be covering had easy paths to Varlamov.  With EJ out, if that pairing struggles, the Avs have no chance.

Jarome Iginla (D) – He was honored before the game, but was invisible out there on the ice.  Somehow he ended up getting promoted to the top 6 by the end of the game, which doesn’t make sense.

Gabriel Landeskog (F) – I know the Captain is not healthy, but he didn’t provide anything tonight, other than a nice hit on the forecheck in the third period, when the game was already over.

Nathan MacKinnon (C-) – MacK was one of the few Avs with jump in the first period, as I believe he had 3 of the Avs first 5 shots on net, but it didn’t last through the whole night.  It didn’t help that he ended the night with John Mitchell and Alex Tanguay as his wingers.

Andreas Martinsen (D-) – Martinsen had some momentum going, and then Roy dropped him down the lineup.  Now, he’s struggling to get going again.  He had some bad neutral zone turnovers tonight and didn’t play very physical at all.

Cody McLeod (C) – McLeod was doing his best to give some energy to his team by starting some skirmishes after whistles, but no one on Tampa bit enough to fight him, which was smart on their part.

John Mitchell (F) – You can tell when Patrick Roy is panicking, because Mitchell slowly makes his way further up the lineup, even though it never works.  Tonight, he was floating a lot, and completely lost Stamkos on the third goal for Tampa.

Zach Redmond (F) – He got caught on the second Tampa goal, and then managed to take an elbowing penalty the very next shift.  He’s just one of the three defensemen the Avs are dressing that doesn’t belong in the NHL full time.

Jack Skille (B-) – Like Duchene, he had jump tonight, and was one of the few.  His speed caused some issues for Tampa’s defenders a few times, but he wasn’t able to bury the puck.

Carl Soderberg (C-) – He wasn’t as awful as his teammates, and had some chances in the first period, but his game faded the rest of the night as well.

Alex Tanguay (F) – I don’t know how much more there is to say at this point.  His steep decline from last year to this year has been very noticeable.  He can’t skate, he has no battle at all, and he kills plays.  His offensive zone penalty in the first period got Tampa started, and yet, he still ended the night playing with skill players.  I don’t get it.

Semyon Varlamov (B-) – Varly had no help tonight.  None.  He tried his best to keep the Avs in the game early, but the defensive zone coverage was really bad.

The Avs face off against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday evening.  The game starts at 7 PM MST.