Avs Game 63 Grades - The New Guy Looks Good

The Avalanche played a very strong game against the San Jose Sharks, and were able to pull out the 2 points with a 4-3 shootout victory.

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

Tyson Barrie (B) – Barrie was pushing the play all night, and that’s when he’s at his best.  Unfortunately he got walked pretty easily in overtime, giving up a breakaway that Pickard had to stop.

Francois Beauchemin (B-) – Another 29 minutes for the veteran, and 3 more blocked shots, to add to his league high total.  He unfortunately got on the wrong side of Joel Ward in the final minutes of the game, giving him an easy deflection in front to tie the game.

Chris Bigras (B-) – I’d be interested in knowing what happened on that first goal for the Sharks.  Bigras skated directly in front of Bodnarchuk at the offensive blueline, but didn’t touch the puck, and it looked to have distracted Bodnarchuk, leading to the turnover.  Looked like there may have been miscommunication.  Other than that, he had another strong game, with some nice defensive zone exits.

Andrew Bodnarchuk (C-) – He made a really nice play on the Landeskog goal, which was nice, because he had a bad game otherwise.  A few mistakes at the offensive blueline, including one that led to a goal against, and even more defensive zone issues.  You know the Avs would like to upgrade his spot, but the prices are really high right now.

Blake Comeau (B) – That line was tremendous, adding a cycle game down low in the offensive zone that is not often seen from the Avs.  He made a really nice defensive play on a 2 on 1 late in overtime.

Matt Duchene (C+) – That line had a really strong start to the game, and Duchene was really strong along the boards all night, but they seemed to fade in the third period.

Mikhail Grigorenko (C+) – The man is a wizard on the power play half wall with his patience and playmaking skills.  At even strength, he had an average game, but it was nice to see him get a shot in overtime.

Nick Holden (C) – Holden had a pretty quiet game overall, but he did have one really bad turnover behind his own net late in the game that led to a scoring chance for the Sharks.

Jarome Iginla (B-) – Obviously the guy knows how to score goals, because that pass by Barrie didn’t even look like it was in his wheelhouse, but he was still able to put it top shelf.

Erik Johnson (D-) – Amazing move in overtime aside, EJ had an awful night.  He was missing easy passes, and had the bad icing right before the Sharks tied the game.  It’s amazing the Avs are in this race with the way he’s played since returning.

Gabriel Landeskog (A) – He’s been a different player since the All Star break, and he and MacKinnon have been dominant since being reunited. A goal, an assist, and some tremendous effort defensively.  He led by example tonight.

Nathan MacKinnon (A) – Just a dominant effort by MacKinnon.  He had a shift early in the game where he had 4 shot attempts, and then followed it up by blowing by a defender his next shift.  Led the team with 8 shots on goal, and a nice shootout goal.

Shawn Matthias (B+) – Pretty nice debut for Matthias, and he looked like a strong fit on his line.  He was really strong on the cycle, and that line created problems for the Sharks defensively.  Hard to have a better debut than that, given what his role will be.

Cody McLeod (C) – McLeod finished the game with 7 hits, but that didn’t spend a ton of time in the offensive zone for the Avs.

John Mitchell (D) – I’m surprised Mitchell found his way onto the ice in overtime after he completely bailed on putting any effort into clearing the puck before the Sharks tied the game.  He finished a -2 in limited ice time.

Calvin Pickard (A-) – It’s a little worrisome that Pickard seems to give up an early goal in a lot of the games he plays, but he always seems to recover.  He was really good the rest of the night and tremendous in the OT and shootout.

Jack Skille (F) – What has happened to this guy since 2016 began?  His game has fallen off a cliff, and you have to think his roster spot isn’t really safe anymore.  Other than a few games, he’s been very invisible most of this new year.

Carl Soderberg (B) – As mentioned before, the cycling of that line really wore down the Sharks defenders.  Soderberg showed great patience in front on the Avs first goal.  He seems to be in a bit of a scoring slump, and looks a little frustrated.

Alex Tanguay (D) – He’s just kind of there right now, except his turnovers, especially in the offensive zone, are really hurting the team.  You can see a little more effort from him, but he gets overpowered most nights now.

The next time the Avalanche hit the ice, they’ll be playing outdoors at Coors Field.  The game with the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday starts at 6 PM MST.