Avs-Kings Grades: Another impressive performance

The Colorado Avalanche played well but ultimately lost at Staples Center on Thursday night in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings.

How did the players grade out? Let’s check ’em out.

Sven Andrighetto (C) – It wasn’t a banner night for Andrighetto as he failed to carry his momentum over from the Penguins game. He wasn’t a detriment on this night as much as previous nights when he wasn’t locked in but the offense just wasn’t there for him.

Mark Barberio (B) – I’ve continued to like what Barberio has done since his benching. His response is exactly why you bench a guy for a game. His puck decisions still leave something to be desired from time to time and his level dropped off in the third when the Kings began pressing.

Tyson Barrie (C+) – I certainly didn’t hate Barrie as much as Avalanche fans on Twitter seemed to after the game. His play in overtime was a mess as was everyone else’s. Beyond that, he was one of the very few players tonight who consistently generated offense for Colorado and he was a handful for the Kings. He continues to mix the good with the bad and one’s perception of him usually skews towards seeing what you want to see.

Blake Comeau (D) – The D grade stands for ‘Did not play well at all’ tonight and his minutes are a reflection more of Jared Bednar’s fear of using his other lines than anything Comeau did to earn the time tonight. When he’s ineffective, he’s bafflingly bad.

J.T. Compher (D+) – His line got beat up at even strength and he failed to capitalize on a couple of great scoring chances (stop me if you’ve heard that before…). He gets the plus because he blocked a shot in the waning moments of regulation and bailed his team out in a huge spot.

Samuel Girard (B-) – There was a lot to like from Girard tonight. He made several stretch passes where teammates seemed to not expect them coming. He had several glowing defensive moments and his minutes were again more of a reflection of Bednar’s insecurities and not Girard’s play.

Tyson Jost (B) – This line was good in limited minutes. Jost continues to show improved play as he settles down and really seeks to find a rhythm.

Alexander Kerfoot (B) – I liked Kerfoot a lot tonight and his limited minutes left me confused, especially given the lack of scoring tonight and the one-goal situation for the second half of the game. He looked much better as he returns from injury.

Gabriel Landeskog (B+) – Loved the goal. Circled the zone, took advantage of a guy without a stick and blew a puck past Jonathan Quick just minutes after the two engaged in a scuffle in the crease. You’d like to see him continue to play with that edge. Like Barrie and MacKinnon, what the hell happened in overtime??

Anton Lindholm (F) – I like Lindholm but he’s clearly not in a great place right now. With Johnson’s return looming, he absolutely needs a night off. Against Arizona would be a great time to give him a breather.

Nathan MacKinnon (B) – Looked explosive and special at times, got abused later by Anze Kopitar. His performance in overtime was a nightmare.

Patrik Nemeth (C-) – Not a fan of the minutes he’s seeing but I’ve begun to like aspects of his play in his own zone. His work with the puck still isn’t very good and his inability to clear the zone directly led to the game-tying goal in the third period. It’s a roller coaster.

Matt Nieto (C) – Nieto was okay, I guess. He tends to really disappear in some games and he didn’t do well at even strength tonight. His minutes were far more appropriate than the rest of his linemates.

Mikko Rantanen (B-) – I liked a lot of what he did tonight. He was more physical than we’ve seen him be in the past and against a big team like Los Angeles he needs that mentality to succeed. He was part of some good offensive chances tonight and he was willing to fire away on the power play.

Carl Soderberg (C-) – I get why Jared Bednar likes this line together so much but this reliance on players with such variance in skill level is just a mess. Soderberg lost a huge faceoff late and was bailed out by Compher’s complete disregard for his own safety. This was a classic “passenger” game from Soderberg that we saw far too often last year.

Semyon Varlamov (B+) – He never saw the game-tying goal and he got beat by Dustin Brown on what was essentially a breakaway. Beyond that, Varlamov was pretty locked in and I had no complaints. 

Colin Wilson (D-) – He played?

Nail Yakupov (C) – Given his limited minutes, his performance was PACKED. He took two penalties, which was the bad, and had three shots on goal and was dangerous early on, which was the good. Roller coaster life is for Nail.

Nikita Zadorov (B) – Big minutes, high-event hockey both ways, and stellar defensive efforts defined Big Z’s game tonight. He used his strength on both ends of the ice and he seems to be in a really good place right now.

Jared Bednar (D+) – The forcing of the Soderberg line, especially when Kerfoot’s trio was buzzing, made no sense in a one-goal game. “Safe is death” is something we’ve heard Bednar stress in the past but he couldn’t coach himself out of his conservative box tonight and it likely cost the Avalanche. His team’s poor play at situations that aren’t even strength or a typical power play is a reflection of poor preparation from Bednar and his staff and you can argue it’s cost the Avalanche three points in the standings in the last week (4v4 against Tampa Bay and 3v3 tonight against LA). Limited practice time makes it difficult but there’s no excuse for your team to look so out of sorts.

The Avalanche return to the ice Saturday night as they head to Glendale to take on the Arizona Coyotes.