Avs Game 47 Grades: Sometimes teams lose

Nicolas Aube-Kubel – B-

Logan O’Connor is struggling with the puck, and J.T. Compher didn’t do much better. Newhook needs a little more skill around him, and I’d like to see NAK get a chance. He’s not perfect, but he has some puck skills. If the NHL believed in penalty shots, he could have gotten one against Dallas in the second period.

Andre Burakovsky – C

Plenty of shot attempts, even if they weren’t going in and drew a penalty in the third period, but nothing is falling for the guy. The turnovers in the neutral zone aren’t going to help him.

J.T. Compher – D

Good job battling in front of the net on the lone goal. Beyond that, they aren’t getting much of anything. No shot attempts. Had a chance to drive wide in the first, but decided to drop it back to MacKinnon, and missed him completely for a turnover.

Pavel Francouz – D

The main issue will be down to the second goal by the Stars, which allowed them to play a different game the rest of the way. Just got stuck waiting for the puck to enter the playable area, and couldn’t find his way back into the net. That goal was a gut punch.

Samuel Girard – C

Breaks Benn’s ankles in the first with a move at the offensive blue line, and then proceeds to force a pass to Makar, which gets turned over for a chance the other way. His shot isn’t great, and it’s struggling to get through to the net, but when you get space like that, need to take advantage of it.

Darren Helm – C

Super low event night for him, but did manage to draw a penalty in the second period by putting his face to good use.

Erik Johnson – D

Not a good night on the penalty kill. Did nothing to block the pass on the first goal, pass got through him on the second goal, and the defense was all discombobulated on the third goal. Not a banner night after the PK was doing a lot of good. Did have a nice flip pass to Newhook in the first.

Jack Johnson – B-

His head juke actually worked for once on Jamie Benn in the first for a pretty clean breakout. Found himself getting the puck plenty of times at the offensive blue line for chances, but nothing got through and whiffed on a good chance in the first.

Tyson Jost – D

Had some good chances, including a good shot in the slot in the third, where the rebound by Makar would have beaten most goaltenders. His penalty kill work, however, was not ideal, as some lost clean face-offs led to a few goals against.

Nazem Kadri – C

Kadri did a ton right tonight. Avs dominated with him out there, he had lots of good chances, both at even strength and in the bumper spot on the Powerplay, but just couldn’t finish. The puck over the netting penalty is whatever, but the too many men on the ice one stung because Pavelski scored right after.

Gabriel Landeskog – B

The guys on the top line combined for 24 shot attempts between them. Sometimes, they don’t go in. It happens. Was tied for the team lead with four high danger chances.

Kurtis MacDermid – C

The problem with MacDermid is when the team is losing, they can’t play him. Played only 6:21, which just stinks on the first half of a back to back.

Nathan MacKinnon – A

Got his goal, and sure as heck could have had a lot more. Spending a lot of time out at the point, which is good and bad. It creates it’s fair share of goals, but against a team like Dallas that clogs things up, you want more penetration.

Cale Makar – B

Who knows how this game changes if he doesn’t get robbed by Oettinger in the third period on that sprawling save. Helped create the only goal of the night and did a lot of good. Have noticed him going for some big hits, and seemed angry at the end of the first when he drove a guy into the wall who was already on the ice.

Alex Newhook – A-

I would go out on a limb and say he was maybe their most effective forward. Generated eight shot attempts at even strength, which is huge for him because you want him to start pushing the play, and had the clean zone entry that led to the MacKinnon goal. Got stopped on a breakaway in the first.

Valeri Nichushkin – B

Another solid game, if not as good as some of his other gems of late. Had a few good chances in front that he could not bury.

Logan O’Connor – D

Just a tough night with the puck. Had some good moments on the forecheck in the first, but turnovers with the puck were an issue all night.

Mikko Rantanen – B

Certainly had plenty of chances from his spot on the wall of the Powerplay, but sometimes a goalie just has your number, and that was the case for him. Wired 11 shots towards the net.

Devon Toews – C

A dominant night on the stat sheet with shot share, but was part of the PK that got burned with some aggression in front of their own net. Like Girard, did seem to struggle to get that shot through traffic, at least for one night.