Avs Game 79 Grades: Going through the motions

Nicolas Aube-Kubel – C

Ugly turnovers led to him taking a penalty at the end of the first but liked him other than that. Big hit in the second period pissed the Jets off so much that they spent the rest of that period trying to kill him.

Andre Burakovsky – D

He was pretty invisible at even strength, but he was plenty visible on the powerplay…in a bad way. Slow decision-making, bad passes, fumbling pucks. Just killed momentum.

Bowen Byram – C-

I guess he was…okay? I didn’t love or hate him, but I’m not sure how much I love him and Makar together as a pair. Certainly not as much as Toews with Makar.

Andrew Cogliano – F

I actually thought he was great the first half of the game. The whole fourth line was. Then he passed it to no one and gave Wheeler a breakaway, and then the big mistake on the third Jets goal.

J.T. Compher – D

Scored a goal to pump that shooting percentage up a bit on his only shot on net of the night. Had another chance at the side of the net late but didn’t get much on it.

Samuel Girard – D

Not a good game, and he was certainly targeted physically by the Jets. He looked re-energized when he came back into the lineup after his injury but not getting much going offensively right now.

Darren Helm – B

I loved him for most of the game. Had a ton of energy and created some chances just through hard work. Lost the face-off on the fourth goal, but beyond that, one of the few who actually showed up.

Erik Johnson – D

Really nice play on the only goal of the game. Not sure what Stanley, the defender, was doing but he made a great backhanded pass to Compher. Didn’t like his game beyond that, although I liked him more than his partner.

Jack Johnson – F

It’s kind of fallen apart here for JJ at the end of the year, to the point where when the team is healthy, I don’t see how they play him in the top six in the postseason.

Nazem Kadri – D

The injury killed a lot of the mojo he had. He’s still working his way back into this and doesn’t look the same as he did before the injury, but the last week, no one has.

Darcy Kuemper – B

The game kind of fell apart for him in the third, but he did his best to keep things interesting because the Avs did give up a ton of grade-A scoring chances on the night. Certainly not his fault.

Artturi Lehkonen – D

There just is no chemistry between him and MacKinnon. Time to move on from that. If I was Bednar (clearly I’m not), I’d put him with Newhook the next few games because that was supposed to be the plan for the playoffs, and they’ve barely spent any time together.

Nathan MacKinnon – F

Looked like he was going through the motions, outside of a few times when the puck came to him. I’d rather he be 100% in the playoffs than go crazy in a game like this, but a big reason why the team looked bad is because their top guys were bad.

Cale Makar – D

Started to show some energy in the third period, but most of his night was bad. It started on his first shift when he had three turnovers in his own end and looked frustrated leaving the ice.

Josh Manson – F

Sat out the third period, but the big mistakes are just showing up most nights and it’s frustrating. Gave up a real gift to the Jets at the end of the second period in the high slot, and that wasn’t the only giveaway. He and Girard have taken a nosedive as a pair in the last week.

Ben Meyers – C-

I think Meyers on the second line tells you all you need to know about how the Avs have approached this last week. They’re just trying to get by. He did have a nice attempted rush in the second period where he put his head down to cut to the net but lost it at the last second.

Alex Newhook – D

Sure seems like he might be playing wing and not center in the playoffs because he hasn’t played center in weeks. Not sure I agree with that. Had some real soft plays exiting the zone along the wall.

Valeri Nichushkin – C

He was Nuke. Led the team in shots on goal and had the most high-danger chances on the team but wasn’t able to bury anything.

Nico Sturm – C+

Looked comfortable in the role he’s likely to play on the fourth line come the playoffs. The line fell apart a bit at the end but I liked their cycle game and hustle down low most of the night.