Avs Game 45 Grades: Uneven outing

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – C-

Lost face-off cleanly on the game-winning goal. 5 on 3, so a lot has to go right to kill it, but starts with the face-off. The fourth line is just a mishmash of different types of players and doesn’t seem to be a great fit for any of them right now.

Andre Burakovsky – B

Plenty of good chances, including a crossbar at the end of the first period. Set up Compher plenty of times in the slot on the powerplay but never seemed to work out. Had a chance in front late but waited a little too long to shoot.

J.T. Compher – C+

I actually really didn’t mind Compher. Would love to see him put better shots on net when he’s in the slot, but he was skating well at even strength. Some decent moments on the penalty kill as well.

Devan Dubnyk – D+

His best moments came after the Blues took the lead, as he made some great saves, but the second goal was just him guessing on a pass, and doing so when O’Reilly already had the puck on his backhand, making a pass even harder.

Samuel Girard – B

Moving really well out there, and escaped the Blues forecheck for the most part. Still has a problem with some of his shots getting blocked, but moved the puck forward most of the night.

Ryan Graves – D-

His best moment was tossing Bortuzzo aside in the third. Beyond that, it was not great. Turnover in the neutral zone leading the Blues third goal, and on the second goal, he got caught up high after Makar already had done the same thing. The penalty in the third was just icing on the cake.

Tyson Jost – B+

Didn’t like his first period at all but really stepped up afterward and kept pushing the play forward. Should have drawn a penalty in the second when he had Bortuzzo slide under him. He’s getting under the opposing team’s skin on a nightly basis.

Nazem Kadri – C

The penalty was a garbage call, but he had some good looks tonight, including Binnington robbing him in the first period on a one-timer. He’s snake-bitten to the extreme but is still getting chances.

Martin Kaut – C

He’s not a fit on the fourth line. He’s trying to make plays, and hold onto the puck, which he did on a nice play to get it to Makar in the third, but his linemates aren’t built for that. I think putting Compher back down for next game and giving Kaut a look with skilled players should be an option. Compher’s speed stood out on that line in the past.

Gabriel Landeskog – B

Took one for the team early with the high hit, and then got on the board by just going to the net. Slowed down a little bit after that and didn’t produce a ton at even strength overall.

Nathan MacKinnon – B+

Great game offensively, and just love seeing him wire one-timers at the net on the powerplay. Defensively, O’Reilly got the best of him a few times, including taking the puck away to get the Blues comeback started.

Cale Makar – C

Super up and down game again. Great start with an elite play to create Landeskog’s goal, but then lost defensively on the second O’Reilly goal, puck between his legs on the first one, and a poor shot on the empty netter.

Patrik Nemeth – D-

Two games in and it’s not been pretty. Had some good shot blocks on the PK but some ugly turnovers, including one that the post bailed him out on.

Valeri Nichushkin – B-

Another hard-working game from Nuke, with some chaos created on the penalty kill. Second game in a row he’s taken a big hit, which is very uncharacteristic. Maybe this will bring out the anger in him that you never see.

Liam O’Brien – F

Didn’t get a shift after his offensive zone penalty. He did make a nice pass to MacKinnon when he got back on the ice, but hoping O’Connor is back to take his spot. The fact he’s gotten this many games is astounding.

Brandon Saad – B

Saad had plenty of good chances in front of the net but wasn’t able to bury any of them, which is bound to happen with his high shooting percentage. Best shot share numbers on the team.

Carl Soderberg – C

Great feed to Kadri in the first, and he continues to work hard, but the second line isn’t doing much right now. Really interested to see how he gets used when Rantanen and Donskoi are back.

Conor Timmins – B

Other than one bad pass in the second, another solid game. That’s three in a row, and given Nemeth and Graves looking poor, I wouldn’t hate it if Timmins got a few more minutes at this point.

Devon Toews – C+

Other than scoring on his own net, which is never ideal, I didn’t have much of an issue with his game. I do wish we could go back to Toews and Makar playing together, as that pairing was just dominant.