Avs-Golden Knights player grades: Landeskog comes through

It was a nailbiter, but in the end the Avalanche prevailed 2-1 in a shootout over the Vegas Golden Knights at the Pepsi Center. That is the collective, but what about the individual efforts toward the collective? Let’s break that down now:

Gabriel Landeskog (A-) – Eight shots on goal, not including the clutch shootout goal that won the actual game. For the captain, it was a true leadership day. His line was dominant throughout but was robbed throughout as well. He should have had a goal early in the third, if not for that highway robbery save by Marc-Andre Fleury.

Nathan MacKinnon (A-) – He was part of a line that, according to Natural Stat Trick, had 10 high danger scoring chances, to just one against. Only Fleury kept them from making it a blowout. MacKinnon was flying throughout.

Mikko Rantanen (A-) – A good, strong game along with his other linemates. Just needs to finish better next time.

Patrik Nemeth (C) – He was faked out on the Marchessault goal that tied the game early in the third, allowing for a good shooting lane. His analytics numbers weren’t too good. But, as always, he worked hard.

Tyson Barrie (B-) – Kind of a rollercoaster day. Some dangerous chances for while on the ice, some against. He skated well, really nothing to complain about. Just needs to find a reliable D partner again I think.

Carl Soderberg (B-) – Why just this grade for a guy who scored their only goal in regulation, after missing two games? Well, the analytics numbers weren’t good. Ten Corsi events for, 21 against. That means the lines against his line had the puck a lot more. He also won only 38% of his faceoffs. But, hey, that goal prevented this from being a D.

Blake Comeau (C) – Falling down on a breakaway, with the goalie behind him – that’s the kind of day it was for Comeau. Bad analytics numbers too. But he did some good things with the puck.

Matt Nieto (D) – A bad game. Horrible puck-possession numbers, a couple really dangerous scoring chances that required Semyon Varlamov to bail him out. His game has slipped some of late.

Erik Johnson (B) – A team-high 24:37 of mostly solid work. He almost won the game in overtime. I thought he was caught running around a couple times in the third, but overall a good effort.

Mark Alt (B-) – Pretty good debut for the newest Avs. Nothing fancy, but he was able to get a couple of pucks through and the fact he has a right-handed shot helps balance out the Avs’ D a bit more right now.

Alexander Kerfoot (A-) – Nice bounce-back game from the horror show of Thursday night. His spin-o-rama assist on the Soderberg goal was a real beauty. His line worked hard and outplayed their Vegas counterpart. He had 14 Corsi events for and only five against. That’s a strong game.

J.T. Compher (A-) – He got the primary assist on Soderberg’s goal, even if it was a bit of a wobbler. But it counted, and overall it was a good two-way game for the kid from Illinois. He was in good defensive position throughout, keeping things a bit simpler than of late.

Tyson Jost (B+) – Good strong game for the rookie. With a little more luck, he could have had a couple of points. But lots of Avs players could say that.

Nikita Zadorov (B) – After being credited with 15 hits against the Kings (really?), he had a more pedestrian three in this one. Overall, a solid game. A couple of scary moments with the puck in his own end, but that’s going to happen.

Duncan Siemens (INC) – He played only 3:42. He was the seventh D-man, in other words. Anyone who plays less than four minutes in a 65-minute game, plus a shootout, you can’t give a real grade.

Sam Girard (B-) – Not a lot on the scoresheet, but I had no problem with Girard’s game. It’s a compliment when you say you didn’t notice a defenseman that much, and so I didn’t notice him all that much. If he ever adds some goal-scoring to his game, he’ll be an All-Star.

Gabriel Bourque (C+) – Not many minutes, but he was respectable while out there. The one thing you can always count on with Bourque is, he’ll be physical and mostly very responsible defensively.

Dominic Toninato (INC) – Fewer than four minutes played in a 65-minute game. Basically, the Avs played only three lines today.

Semyon Varlamov (A) – He was at his best in the shootout. He won that extra point, and that’s why he gets the A. He also made some clutch saves early and late in the game.