Avs Game 56 Grades - Ugly Homestand

The Avalanche squandered another chance to extend their lead on a playoff spot, with a 3-1 loss at home to the Vancouver Canucks.

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

Tyson Barrie (F) – Another awful night for him.  He missed several pucks at the blueline on the power play, and had quite  a few turnovers in the defensive zone.  He did get pushed into Varly a bit on the game winning goal, but he looked real weak and got pushed out of the way too easily.

Francois Beauchemin (B-) – Scored a real nice goal to give the Avs the lead in this one, and he at least did his part in the defensive zone.

Chris Bigras (C) – Bigras had a good game, for the most part, but the lack of pressure from the Avs forwards caught him really flat footed on the third Canucks goal, and his gap control was pretty bad.

Andrew Bodnarchuk (D) – In only 9 minutes of ice time, he was a -2.  Like Bigras, he got caught giving up too much time and space to the Canucks on the third goal.

Blake Comeau (F) – We’ve been getting a lot more bad Comeau lately than good Comeau.  He had a brutal drop pass on an odd man rush in the second period, when it looked like he had the defender beat.  He also backed into Varly and screened him on the Canucks first goal.

Matt Duchene (D) – Duchene had some good looks in the first period, but couldn’t get anything to go.  He more or less disappeared the rest of the night.  With the team struggling, they need their big guns to step up.

Mikhail Grigorenko (B-) – He’s doing his best to take advantage of the opportunity he’s being given, and outside of a turnover in the first period, has looked good.  He looked tremendous quarterbacking the power play, and gave MacKinnon a few point blank chances that he couldn’t finish.  Had a nice one touch pass to Duchene in the first.

Nick Holden (F) – The wheels have fallen off his season.  He got beat easily to the outside when he took his penalty, which the Canucks happened to score on at the very end.  He didn’t have a stick, and was doing absolutely nothing on the Canucks second goal as well.  He had a clear breakout with multiple options at one point in the second period, and chose to just dump the puck down the ice, giving away possession.

Jarome Iginla (C-) – Iginla made a nice pass to Beauchemin for the only goal of the night, but was quiet the rest of the evening, outside of a few chances on the power play.  He got dropped back down to the 4th line again in the 3rd.

Erik Johnson (B-) – EJ had a bit more jump in his step tonight, including a nice spin move in the third, but can anyone in the Avs organization teach this guy to stay on his feet?  Quit sprawling on the ice to break up plays.  He gets caught way too often with that.

Gabriel Landeskog (B) – Landy, to me, was the most noticeable forward on the ice, and had far and away the most jump.  He looks healthier post-All Star break.

Nathan MacKinnon (F) – He looks as bad as he ever has in the NHL right now.  Missed some glorious chances on the power play in the first, and had some bad turnovers in the second and third.  He did absolutely nothing to slow down Sbisa before the Canucks third goal.

Andreas Martinsen (D) – Outside of a few hits, he more or less looks lost, especially in the defensive zone.  He had some awful turnovers again tonight.  If it was up to me, he’d switch with Dennis Everberg on that 4th line spot.  At least Everberg provides some good defensive work.

Cody McLeod (C) – McLeod’s effort was there all night, and the coach must have noticed, as he kept playing him more in the third.  That’s usually the sign of a bad night.

John Mitchell (D) – It’s been over 20 games since Mitchell scored a goal.  He wasn’t very good again tonight.

Carl Soderberg (C-) – Soderberg had some chances tonight, but instead of shooting the puck, tried to get too fancy and overpassed it all night and those passes were usually broken up.  Despite those chances, he didn’t register a single shot on net.

Alex Tanguay (D) – Tanguay actually showed some decent battle on the only goal of the night, but I’ve had enough of watching Tanguay go offsides 2-3 times every game.

Semyon Varlamov (C) – I think Varly would probably want the first goal back, and possibly even the third goal as well.  His first two games since his trial ended have been pretty average.

Chris Wagner (C-) – Wagner had some good hits, and he provides energy for a 4th liner.  His defensive zone play has been disappointing.

The Avs hit the road to take on the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.  The game starts at 5:30 PM MST.