Avs Game 51 Grades - Bugged by the Flu

The Avalanche had some important players dealing with the flu bug, and they were never able to get their game going against the San Jose Sharks, losing 6-1.

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

Tyson Barrie (C) – Barrie was one of the few players with a little bit of a jump in his step, but it wasn’t nearly enough.  He’s shooting more on the power play, which is nice, even if they aren’t all getting through.

Francois Beauchemin (D) – In a blowout like tonight, it would have been nice to give the 35 year old a bit of a rest, but he still played 25 minutes, which probably had to do with EJ feeling under the weather.

Chris Bigras (C+) – Bigras had some good moments, and EJ’s sickness allowed him to get some more ice time.  He displayed some nice awareness on a rush in the first, and made a nice defensive play against Joe Thornton in the third.

Blake Comeau (D) – Not a good night for Comeau, who made poor passes consistently, and wasn’t able to do much with a  whole lot of PP ice time.

Matt Duchene (D) – All that power play time and Duchene only ends up with 1 shot on goal?  That’s just not good enough.

Nick Holden (C) – Holden, like his partner, had an OK night.  He still managed to lead the team in hits tonight, which has been something he’s been a lot more consistent with this year.

Jarome Iginla (D) – I don’t think that 4th line left their zone the entire first period.  Iginla showed some decent moves in the third period and was better than his linemates.

Erik Johnson (F) – I think it’s pretty obvious that EJ should not have even been on the ice tonight.  He was turning it over left and right, and made mistakes he normally does not make.  He played a role in each of the Sharks first four goals.

Gabriel Landeskog (D) – I actually really liked Landeskog’s work on the penalty kill, but how does he end up with 0 shots on goal after all those power plays?

Nathan MacKinnon (C-) – He scored a goal on a nice one timer, which is something the Avs don’t set him up enough with, but did not play well the rest of the night.

Andreas Martinsen (F) – I really wonder what it will take for him to get taken out of the lineup.  He has not been good for a few weeks now, and took a bad penalty in the offensive zone that basically put the game out of reach.

Cody McLeod (C-) – Well, he registered 6 hits in his 12 minutes of ice time, but also managed to take a penalty late in the first and then got kicked out at the end of the game.

John Mitchell (D) – Mitchell also managed to get kicked out at the end of the game after taking a penalty, and had a rough night with the puck, as it was rolling off his stick all night.

Calvin Pickard (F) – He didn’t get much help tonight, but it was clear he was not 100% when he was leaning over the crossbar after every whistle.  It’ll be interesting to see how he bounces back tomorrow.

Zach Redmond (D) – It was nice to see Redmond actually try to hit someone late in the game, but he also left some guys wide open in front of the net on more than a few occasions.

Jack Skille (C+) – Skille had some jump tnoight, which he usually does in every game, and created some of the Avs better chances at even strength with his speed.

Carl Soderberg (C-) – A very quiet night for Carl Soderberg.  As in, I don’t even think I noticed him more than a few times tonight.

Alex Tanguay (D) – Tanguay has still been playing awful lately, especially without the puck, but at least he’s starting to pick up some points, even if tonight it was in garbage time.

Chris Wagner (F) – Really ugly first period for Wagner.  Multiple turnovers in his own end, and seemed generally lost in his own end.  He also passed up a real good scoring chance in the first from the slot when he tried to pass through two sticks to Iginla.

The Avs play their last game before the All Star break tomorrow night against the Los Angeles Kings.  The game starts at 8:30 PM MST.