Avs-Oilers Grades: Varlamov shines again

The Colorado Avalanche lost to the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in overtime. How did the players grade out?

Check it out below.

Tyson Barrie (D) – One game after a brilliant performance, Barrie reminded everyone why he’s never been a true number one defenseman. He chewed up a bunch of minutes and the Oilers were more than happy to see him out there. He was on the for 20 shots on goal and 36 (!!) shot attempts at even strength. That’s, uh, not good enough.

Gabriel Bourque (D+) – He played! Not particularly well, mind you, but not very many Avs were any good tonight. These types of efforts remind you why he’s spent so much time in the AHL recently.

Blake Comeau (C+) – One of the few Avs with a little effort tonight, Comeau was okay. He had a couple of nice scoring opportunities but nothing really dangerous. He was solid. His line was consistently active if nothing else.

J.T. Compher (D-) – He got demoted in the lineup and was sparingly used late and it was hard to argue too much with the decision. He continued a recent run of not playing very well. His shot metrics were good but tonight was definitely a night of eyes telling a different story. Knowing Compher, expect a good game against Calgary.

Samuel Girard (B) – He was in line for something a little higher until that overtime shift where Leon Draisaitl dismissed him. Draisaitl is one of the great talents in the NHL today so losing that matchup isn’t the end of the world. He’s a smart guy and will learn from it. Beyond that, he played very well and his goal was “Magnifique.”

Tyson Jost (C+) – His shot metrics were atrocious tonight but he individually showed out on several occasions, earning the promotion in the lineup in the third period. It paid off immediately with a great assist on Wilson’s goal.

Alexander Kerfoot (C+) – A little quiet offensively but he worked hard and took a ton of punishment in the dirty areas of the ice. He’s fearless and an absolute warrior and this team is significantly better because of his heart. He’s a legitimate building block.

Gabriel Landeskog (D+) – Where you at, cap?

Nathan MacKinnon (D) – Bednar tried to get something out of him by dropping him down to play with Soderberg and it just didn’t change anything for MacKinnon. He was kind of dangerous at times but zero even strength points in his three games back is worrisome for a team that has had trouble scoring at all lately.

Patrik Nemeth (C) – He was a mess early on but cleaned his game up as the night went on. A lot of people were unhappy with his play on Draisaitl’s goal but to my eye, he played his coverage correctly and watched his teammates get torched and then a weak shot beat Varlamov. Beyond that sequence, I liked plenty of what he did as the Oilers got nothing high-danger at even strength with him on the ice (compare this to Zadorov down below).

Matt Nieto (C) – He rang a shot off the post that would have changed a lot of the story on the night but that’s life, right?

Mikko Rantanen (F) – Got torched defensively and was a ghost offensively. Might have been his worst game of the season. Really bad showing from No. 96. It won’t be hard for him to improve upon this effort in Calgary.

Duncan Siemens (A-) – No other way to say it: Siemens was awesome tonight. He worked over McDavid a couple of times, played consistently good defense, was on the ice for almost nothing high quality against, moved the puck with confidence and had the kind of night we all envisioned would be the norm for him way back in 2011 on draft day. Even if it was just this once, seeing Siemens have this kind of game in an Avalanche uniform was stellar.

Carl Soderberg (B-) – I felt Soderberg was strong. His assist was the result of flat hard work and obviously a great shot from Girard. He outplayed MacKinnon tonight even if a glance at the box score disagrees. He could have been more aggressive shooting the puck but that’s just Soderberg.

Semyon Varlamov (A-) – He was the man tonight. Draisaitl’s goal was a little weak for my taste but he was incredible beyond that. He kept his team in the game when it could have easily gotten out of hand. The Avs have a nice point total after tonight only because Varlamov willed it to be. He was Colorado’s best player.

David Warsofsky (C+) – He wasn’t a standout like Siemens but he was damn solid in his own right. He hasn’t had a poor game in Colorado yet. I liked his puck-moving tonight and he had a good scoring chance as a result of a Siemens pass.

Colin Wilson (C+) – Great goal, good hard work. I saw some people upset with his game but I thought he was perfectly fine. He’s always been a weird fit in this lineup and that remains true until Colorado moves some of their guys out. But he has a place here and he’s not a bad glue guy for the youngsters to play alongside.

Nail Yakupov (D-) – I’m really over this experiment. As Adrian Dater mentioned on a recent podcast, he has brought all of his gear with him on this trip in case of trade. The Avalanche would do well to get that done.

Nikita Zadorov (F) – We all knew this was coming, right? I might disagree with Bednar’s decision to remove him COMPLETELY from the game after the second period but I don’t blame him for benching him in the first place. In just two periods of play, Zadorov was on the ice for 10 high-danger scoring chances against, higher than anybody but Barrie (and Barrie played 14 more minutes!). Edmonton generated 13 shots on goal against when Z was on the ice and his terrible play behind his own net led to Edmonton’s second goal. This was a disaster for big Z.

Jared Bednar (D) – Hear me out. The OT lines were definitely weird, granted. I disagree with the decision to remove Zadorov from the game completely. But the line mix up in the third period worked, as it generated the tying goal, and doing nothing would have been the easy way out for Bednar. Instead, he tried something, anything, and everything along the way as he tried to squeeze the extra point out of a team that seemed determined to lose in Edmonton tonight. I don’t know why this team struggles so much on the road but Bednar needs to get it figured out. They’re still somehow only three points out of a playoff spot but that won’t be the case for long if his team doesn’t correct its lethargic play. It’s been nearly a month since they played a legitimately strong game.