Avs Game 46 Grades: Familiar Feeling

Pierre Edouard Bellemare – C

I think tonight was a pretty good example of who Bellemare has been most of his career. A solid NHL player with a very limited offensive ceiling and who helps in niche ways, one of which is faceoffs. He got crushed in the FO circle tonight and that’s not great. The rest, though, I think is solid from Pebbles.

Andre Burakovsky – B-

I loved the aggression with the puck, especially early. I think he faded as the game wore on but he was driving the puck hard up the ice and making his speed push Dallas back on their heels a bit. When he does that, he’s dangerous and it adds a dynamic element to Colorado’s offense that it definitely needs. Would like to see him bury one of those seven shot attempts, though…

Matt Calvert – B+

Calvert drove the bus offensively on his line and then did the dirty work he’s known for. His fight with Jamie Benn in the third period was in response to Benn giving him the business a bit and also was a great trade for the Avs with Benn being in the box for five minutes. He’s Colorado’s very own little ball of fire.

Ian Cole – B+

I can’t say I noticed Cole too much on the defensive end tonight. He stood out to me way more on the offensive end, which is odd in itself, and I liked what he was doing with the puck. He shot when it made sense and he moved around the zone and found soft spots as an outlet for teammates who were cycling. It’s not sexy but it’s smart and effective. Defensively, the Stars had just two (!) shots on goal against the Avs with Cole on the ice.

J.T. Compher – C+

I loved his offensive game tonight. He was aggressive and should have had an assist in the first period when he created a two on one that Tyson Jost couldn’t finish off. He was skating hard and creating with his legs, something he needs to do more consistently.

Samuel Girard – D+

Not nearly as good a night for G as we’ve seen the last six games. He didn’t pick up any assists but the best part of his game was certainly him driving play with his legs. He played a big role in the game-tying goal by Dallas and too frequently got stuck out there.

Ryan Graves – C+

It was a complicated night for Graves in my eyes. I thought he had some smart plays, per usual, but defensively there were a couple of reads I didn’t like. He picked up an assist and made a couple of very nice passes in the offensive zone. I think he’s being overextended just a hair but I continue to like his overall game.

Philipp Grubauer – C-

This is a tough grade to give. I don’t think he played poorly overall and certainly wasn’t great. The team in front of him was damn good, though, and he couldn’t backstop them to a win. The first goal against felt pretty bad. The other two felt like there wasn’t a lot else he could do. But even one soft goal in low-scoring games against a team like Dallas is huge. You just can’t open the door for teams like that.

Erik Johnson – F

I thought he was the worst Av on the ice tonight. To me, EJ was scrambling way too much and his third period penalty was negated by the good fortune of Matt Calvert drawing a trip on the ensuing faceoff. He needs to be Colorado’s steady warrior on the back end and he was anything but tonight. When he’s all over the map, we’ve seen Girard can’t stabilize him and that pairing turns into a negative feedback loop pretty quickly.

Nazem Kadri – B-

I thought Kadri was all over the place tonight. I really liked what I saw from him as he was aggressive pushing the play up the ice and creating a little chaos in the offensive end. He won his share of faceoffs and overall was pretty solid. To a man, I think even Kadri would say he had more to give defensively on the game-tying goal.

Vladislav Kamenev – C+

I didn’t notice him a lot but when I did, it was mostly good. He was active in getting up the ice and I really like the way he uses his frame when he wants to. He can engage physically and just overpower guys. He could turn himself into a decent edgy bottom-six player if he so desired.

Tyson Jost – F

This was a frustrating performance for 17. A bad tripping penalty that started Colorado on just enough of a penalty parade that Dallas climbed back into the game. He also missed the net entirely on Compher’s excellent centering pass. Normally, I can live with Jost hiccups because there are other positive things he brings to the ice. Not tonight.

Gabriel Landeskog – C-

The goal was great! The rest…was not. He used to be a very reliable one-man breakout machine going through the neutral zone and I don’t know where that player has gone but he wasn’t that tonight and hasn’t been much. I wasn’t impressed on the whole with Landeskog’s all-around game. I thought there were at least two scoring chances that died on his stick due to indecision.

Nathan MacKinnon – A-

I thought hummed along with his two assists and generally was the scariest player on the ice. He had two glorious scoring chances that could have given the Avs a 3-1 lead but Bishop made the stops. I think tonight might have been a case where MacKinnon leaned a little too heavily on the book on Bishop and tried to beat him where it said to instead of going with his strength and trying to beat him high glove where he’s turned into a sniper. But that’s just guesswork on my part.

Cale Makar – C+

It was…okay. Makar can be tough to grade because you know he’s capable of such spectacular performances that when you get something average like tonight, you don’t know what to make of it. I loved his defense tonight as he had multiple big hits and seemed very poised in his own zone. I didn’t love his offense. He just didn’t drive play the way we’ve seen from him.

Valeri Nichushkin – B

He looked motivated to score and had Colorado’s only scoring chance of overtime when he put his head down and went hard to the net. That would’ve been sweet, sweet redemption for Nuke. He was good at even strength but I think it’s obvious he can’t hang on a second line.

Matt Nieto – C-

Where has Nieto gone? A lot of times he creates problems with his speed and dogged attitude on pucks but I didn’t see much of that tonight. I didn’t like his game nearly as much as I normally do.

Mikko Rantanen – C-

I thought Rantanen was a hell of a lot better than we’ve seen recently. I’m being overly harsh because the penalty he took resulted in the first Dallas goal but it was such an avoidable call. For a player so big and strong, he’s taken so many lazy stick infractions the last two seasons. He needs to clean that part of his game up because it betrays a dynamic offensive arsenal like he showed tonight as he nearly had one with his wicked backhand.

Nikita Zadorov – A

I’ll be honest – I loved Zadorov’s game tonight. He was ultra-aggressive with the puck and activating offensively. He drove play hard and while his goal was lucky, he tattooed a post later that likely would have been the game-winning goal had it gone in. He was the only guy to really beat Bishop cleanly tonight. He was also dominant defensively. With Z on the ice, the Avs outshot (actual SOG) Dallas 18-4. That’s an ass-kicking.