Avs Game 45 Grades - Marleau Scoring Like it's 1999

The Colorado Avalanche fell in a familiar way, falling apart in the third period, like they have many times this year, losing to the San Jose Sharks 5-2.

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

Francois Beauchemin (F) – He was nowhere to be found on either of the odd man rush goals, and his turnover just before the opening goal by Burns caused a faceoff to be in the Avs end.  Brutal game.

Joe Colborne (D) – If you want a good laugh, watch Colborne not even try on Marleau’s hat trick goal.  He shouldn’t be back on a 2 on 1 anyway, but it was still funny.  I saw him make a decent move at one point in the offensive zone, so that was nice.

Blake Comeau (B-) – Made a real nice pass on the Avs second goal.  He’s so wildly inconsistent in terms of his overall play from night to night, but he was solid tonight.  Good night for him on the PK.

Eric Gelinas (D) – He only managed to see another 8 minutes of ice time, and was only on the ice for 1 shot attempt by the Avs.  At this point, seems they’re playing him to have an expansion draft option on who to expose.

Cody Goloubef (D) – He, like Beauchemin, was nowhere to be found on Marleau’s hat trick goal.  Rough follow up after a strong game.

Mikhail Grigorenko (B) – You see the play he made on Iginla’s goal and you wonder why he can’t do more.  Then you see him pass up a clear shot in the slot to pass it to a guy standing still in the corner, and you remember why.

Jarome Iginla (B-) – I thought Iginla had some juice tonight.  His goal was nice, but his shift after it was pretty impressive as well.  Maybe he can fool some other team.

Gabriel Landeskog (C-) – The big guys on the team got quieter as the night went on, and some of that might have been just from exhaustion with only 11 forwards.  Landy played almost 22 minutes, and got less effective as the night went on.

Nathan MacKinnon (D) – Same story for MacK, except he almost hit 25 minutes.  He finished an astounding -4 on the evening.

Andreas Martinsen (B+) – Marty had another really good game, which included a huge hit in the 1st and stealing Zadorov’s first in the third.  Best shot differential numbers on the team tonight.

Spencer Martin (D) – After a decent first showing, he looked rough tonight.  He couldn’t catch anything, as there were a lot of rebounds left to be had.  The first goal was weak, and the wrap around probably shouldn’t have happened either.

John Mitchell (D) – They tried to showcase him a bit by giving him some second line time, and then they remembered he’s John Mitchell and took that time away.

Matt Nieto (C) – Strong work from him on the PK tonight but he was pretty quiet at even strength.

Mikko Rantanen (D) – The guy looks like a baby giraffe learning to walk down low when he’s trying to spin away from defenders.  He’s constantly a threat to fall down.  He does a lot of things really well but he’s got to work on that balance this summer.

Carl Soderberg (B) – I thought he was the best forward on the team tonight, and without Duchene, saw some time with skilled players.  I really don’t think he suddenly became a terrible player, but they sure have needed a lot more from him.

Fedor Tyutin (B+) – Two straight really solid games from Tyutin.  Prime time to trade him for a good pick.

Patrick Wiercioch (F) – He just kind of lost Marleau on that last goal.  His penalty early in the game was pretty boneheaded as well.

Nikita Zadorov (B-) – That first period was as good as he’s ever played in an Avs uniform.  He was everywhere.  His game dropped off in the second with some poor decisions with the puck, but he was pretty strong again in the third, minus the penalty.  His development is nothing but encouraging.  Too bad he can’t buy a goal.

The Avalanche take on the Vancouver Canucks Wednesday evening at the Pepsi Center.  The game starts at 7:30 PM MST.