Avs Game 49 Grades: Offense from the defense

Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – C-

500th game, which is an achievement in and of itself, but for a guy who entered the league late, it’s even more impressive. Not his best night overall, and the most memorable thing to happen to him was a Sherwood shot to the junk.

Andre Burakovsky – B

Some pretty strong zone entries in this game, and a shot so hard it nearly took off the Sharks goalie’s head. His snipe was perfect, and notice it came from the right wing? That’s where he needs to be.

Kyle Burroughs – B

Liked his game a lot tonight. Some decent hits along the boards, and some clean, smart breakouts. That’s all you can ask for from him in his role.

J.T. Compher – C-

Didn’t really like the fourth line overall, and was out there for the shorty and the empty netter goal by the Sharks, but some faceoffs are more important than others, and his clean win in the second period kept the Avs momentum going.

Joonas Donskoi – C

After a strong first game, noticed some rust for him in the second game back. Iced the puck one time, which led to the Avs getting stuck in their own end a little bit.

Devan Dubnyk – C+

Moved pretty slow on the first Sharks goal getting across, as that puck wasn’t moving side to side with a ton of speed, but made a huge save at the end of the second to keep the Avs ahead into the intermission. Avs goalies and poke checks just don’t seem to work.

Tyson Jost – C+

Didn’t seem to have the same jump he has of late, but still had some decent chances overall. His second period, like most of the team, was his best.

Nazem Kadri – C

He’s still clutching that stick a little too tight but used his teammates a bit more tonight. Nice feed to Soderberg who hit two posts on one shot, and then tried to feed him again down low. Not sure he and Soderberg have really found a ton of chemistry overall.

Gabriel Landeskog – B-

The second penalty against him was a little…iffy. The first one, I can see with the goalie interference. He also managed to draw one himself, so he tried to even it up. Top line was dominant otherwise, and of course, the video of him and his daughter before the game was just adorable.

Nathan MacKinnon – A

With a beat-up defense, MacKinnon is going to have to be even more dominant to even avoid playing in his own end. He did that in this game. Great goal that started with his face-off win, and picked up another assist later. No surprise to see him register nine shots on goal after getting shutout yesterday.

Cale Makar – B

Great game at even strength, but the fumble at the blue line on the shorthanded goal was a little tough. Didn’t have Makar feeding Nemeth for one-time bombs on the BINGO card but here we are.

Patrik Nemeth – B

Liked his game a lot more, even with limited puck skills, than any of his previous games. They need him to be better with half the defense out, and let’s be honest, a bar down bomb from Nemo only comes around once in a blue moon, so cherish it.

Valeri Nichushkin – C+

What the heck was he doing at the end of the game with the giveaway? That was ugly and nearly got the game tied up. Loved him still trying to score on a goalie that didn’t have a helmet on. No one’s going to do anything to him anyway, he’s massive.

Mikko Rantanen – A

Five points in two games after a few weeks off and no practice. He’s a freak. Loved his zone entry in the second period where it was him against all five Sharks players and he just controlled the puck with ease while everyone was changing and even managed to dangle a defender in the process.

Dan Renouf – C-

Lack of skill was evident, and I know he didn’t like the penalty but thought it was the right call overall. Unless some other players just magically re-appear, he’ll keep getting chances.

Kiefer Sherwood – D

This was a big step back, as he didn’t have the same energy and made some mistakes, including a turnover in front of his own net. Managed to hit Bellemare with a heavy shot early that looked painful.

Carl Soderberg – C+

Don’t like him passing the puck blindly to the center of the ice with the empty net late when he could have eaten a bunch of time, but it is what it is. Came really close to his first goal back with the Avs but hit two posts.

Conor Timmins – B

Liked the second half of his game a heck of a lot more than the first half, where he had an ugly turnover that led to the craziness around Dubnyk where he was in the net himself. After that, great one-time pass to MacKinnon for his goal and looked confident jumping into the play.

Devon Toews – A

Back to his super reliable self and making great pinches. Could have had himself a few goals with his pinches on the rush, but the Sharks goalie (whose name I clearly don’t want to spell) stopped him a few times, including one with the knob of his stick.