Avs Game 75 Grades - An Embarrassing Disaster

The Avalanche came out strong again, but defensive mistakes did them in again, and they were embarrassed at home by the Minnesota Wild in a 4-0 defeat.

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

Tyson Barrie (D) – Barrie just wasn’t good enough offensively when the Avs needed him the most.  He only had 1 shot on goal in the last 2 games, and without the teams top 2 centers, they needed more.

Francois Beauchemin (F) – It’s not Beauchemin’s fault the Avs ran him into the ground this year.  Another 27 minutes tonight, and he looked like he could barely skate out there.  Parise went around him numerous times, and Beauchemin just blindly throws the puck up the boards when he gets it.

Chris Bigras (C-) – I feel for Bigras.  He’s a 20 year old getting his feet wet in the NHL and he has a new partner seemingly every shift.  He did lose his guy in front of the net once in the first period, and was forced to take a penalty to save a goal in the second period.

Mikkel Boedker (F) – Just a horrendous game for Boedker.  Turnovers galore in the second period, one resulting in a breakaway for Parise (with limited backcheck), and another ending up in the back of the Avs net.  He finished it off with an offensive zone penalty in the third.

Blake Comeau (D) – Stop passing to Comeau on the power play.  Just stop.  I’d love to say the lack of forwards right now are the reason he’s out there, but he’s been on the power play all year.

Mikhail Grigorenko (C-) – Grigorenko had a dynamite first period, but played a role in the first goal by over skating the puck (bad pass, though).  He also passed up a real nice scoring chance by looking for a pass early in the game.

Nick Holden (D) – The good news is Holden didn’t play 20 minutes tonight.  Bad news is he still isn’t very good.  He had some nice hits early in the game, and then faded as it went on.  I don’t know why he attacked the same forward that EJ was attacking on the second Wild goal.

Jarome Iginla (D) – Did Iginla play today?  No one would know, certainly at even strength.  He tried to start some stuff after the whistle, but the game is too fast for him at even strength.

Erik Johnson (D) – EJ had another great start to the game, but faded again as the game went on.  He basically gave up on the Parise first goal, and didn’t do a whole lot on the second Wild goal either.

Gabriel Landeskog (D) – I know the puck was rolling on the empty netter, but Landy just needs to be harder on the puck there.  He didn’t create a whole lot of creating offensively tonight when they needed him.

Andreas Martinsen (F) – The guy has random spurts of greatness, but he’s just not an NHL regular yet, in my opinion, and he’s not exactly young at 25 years old.  Other than taking some penalties, he was invisible today.

Shawn Matthias (D) – Matthias is not a power play guy, but that’s what he has to do now with the injuries.  Took a penalty that was pretty obvious in the third period that allowed the Wild to put the dagger in the Avs.

Cody McLeod (C) – McLeod did his job, playing physical and getting in on the forecheck tonight.  There are many times when you wish McLeod would focus on the puck instead of trying to kill someone.

John Mitchell (D) – Altitude tried to tell you that Mitchell has been dynamite without Duchene, but that’s not the case.  The only thing he’s done well these last few games is win most of his faceoffs.

Mikko Rantanen (C) – Rantanen looked good tonight, again in the offensive zone.  It’s sad that he will likely go back down to the AHL having not played a single game at his natural right wing position in the NHL this year.

Zach Redmond (D) – Redmond got back on the ice in the third, which was a sign the game was over.  The Wild dumped it in his end in the first period and exposed him on the forecheck, which is what good teams do.

Jack Skille (C) – Skille had some good jump again tonight.  It’s likely he knows that he’s playing for a job in the NHL next year.

Carl Soderberg (D) – Would it kill Soderberg to shoot the puck on some of these rushes he has?  He tries too hard to look for a pass.  He had a brutal turnover in the second period that led to a breakaway for the Wild.

Semyon Varlamov (B) – Varly was, once again, not the problem tonight.  He made two breakaway saves in the second period to keep the Avs in it, but the Avs defense kept leaving players all alone.

The Avs hit the road to take on the Nashville Predators on Monday night.  The game starts at 6 PM MST.