Avs Game 66 Grades - Cats Nipped

The Avalanche played two strong periods before getting dominated in the third, but were able to hold off the Florida Panthers and secure an important 3-2 victory.

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

Tyson Barrie (B-) – Add two more assists to the season total for Barrie, although the pass he gave Boedker was not a great one.  A really bad turnover and penalty at the end of the second period.  At that point in the period, he needs to manage his game better.

Francois Beauchemin (D) – I thought the top pairing got abused tonight by the Panthers top line, and Beauchemin did not look good with the puck on his stick, turning it over and icing it on multiple occasions.  He was strong on the PK though.

Chris Bigras (F) – Well that was a very forgettable game for the young defenseman.  A brutal turnover that led to the first goal by the Panthers, and after his turnover, he got a little lost and covered no one.  He had more turnovers the rest of the night, including one right before the Panthers nearly tied the game in the third.

Andrew Bodnarchuk (D) – The pairing as a whole got crushed all night, finishing the night with the worst possession numbers on the defense.  Bodnarchuk’s lack of size and strength was evident when he got bowled over on the near goal in the third for the Panthers.

Mikkel Boedker (B-) – Another strong game from Boedker, and he picked up his first goal with the team.  A nice display of skill on the goal, as it’s not easy to kick the puck to your stick and put the puck up high in tight like that.

Blake Comeau (D) – Well, he didn’t take a penalty tonight, which is a good thing, but he had an ugly night otherwise.  He holds onto the puck too long and gets himself in trouble easily because of it.

Matt Duchene (B-) – Duchene’s line was the best in terms of possession tonight.  He showed off his strength on his second period goal, and it was nice to see him go to the slot out of the corner.  He battled really hard defensively in the third, including some nice corner battles with Jagr.

Mikhail Grigorenko (C+) – It was really nice to see Grigorenko shooting the puck tonight, as he had 4 of the Avs 26 shots.  He made a nice play along the boards to spring Duchene and Iginla for a 2 on 1 in the third period.

Nick Holden (C) – He found himself back with Tyson Barrie with Gelinas missing the game, and I don’t recall too many blatant mistakes, which has been a big problem for him of late.

Jarome Iginla (B-) – He picked up an assist in the second period, and had two glorious chances to bury goals on feeds from Iginla, but missed one completely and was stopped by Luongo on another.

Erik Johnson (C-) – He was moving his feet a lot more tonight, but he and Beauchemin had a rough go defensively.  He made a nice play to enter the zone and get it deep prior to Duchene’s goal.  He unleashed a bomb in the third period that created a rebound, which is something he needs to do more.

Gabriel Landeskog (B+) – The Captain came out and set the tone in the first period with a beautiful goal and tremendous effort defensively.  His game tailed off a bit as it went on, like most of the team, but he was strong, for the most part.

Nathan MacKinnon (D) – MacKinnon never looked into the game tonight, which is odd, because his linemates were good.  He was robbed on that penalty shot by a great glove save from Luongo.

Shawn Matthias (C) – He played probably his second best game in an Avs uniform tonight, but his prior two were pretty forgettable.  He had some nice plays defensively.

Cody McLeod (C-) – Roy doesn’t seem afraid to use his 4th line regularly, but I don’t think they’ve been good defensively lately.  He tried to hit someone in the corner hard tonight but ended up face planting into the boards pretty hard when he missed.

John Mitchell (C-) – There’s no reason why he should ever play more than Matt Duchene in a game.  Ever.  He got absolutely robbed by Luongo in the third on his 2 on 1.

Calvin Pickard (A) – Do we have a goaltending controversy?  I think it’s the last thing this team needs down the stretch, but it’s hard not to keep going back to Pickard.  He was strong the first two periods but tremendous in the third.

Jack Skille (C+) – It’s been nice to see Skille using his speed a bit more the last two games, and tonight he didn’t have a brutal turnover like he did the other night.  His whole game should be him just coming down the boards and putting the puck on net with speed.

Carl Soderberg (D) – No goals in 12 games, and I thought he was completely invisible tonight.  I’m not sure the Avs can pull this off down the stretch if he’s not providing any offense at all.

The Avalanche take on the very hot Nashville Predators on Saturday.  The game starts at 1 PM MST.