Avs-Oilers grades: Where did that come from?

A 2-0 deficit after one period, boos from the fans. Wow, did that all change in a hurry tonight eh? Let’s get to the grades:

Derick Brassard (C+) – Not his best game ever, but he finished a plus-1. Only played 12:46.

Nathan MacKinnon (A) – He got the comeback party started with a great goal, his 40th. He split the defense at the blue line, came on in and finished off the forehand. Everybody started breathing a little easier after that.

Gabe Landeskog (A) – Two assists, won seven out of eight faceoffs, tough in the corners. A classic Landy night, in other words.

Alexander Kerfoot (A+) – Two goals, two huge goals, for the Hah-vahd kid. He’s got eight points in his last six games, and they’ve pretty much all been big ones. He had some slick passes too. A couple overpassing moments in the first period, but after that he was full value.

Carl Soderberg (B-) – Seems like Carl has been a little off lately, at least with his offensive game, but he’s still a hard worker night in, night out. One shot, no points, in 16:55.

J.T. Compher (C) – On the ice for both Edmonton goals, didn’t notice him much offensively, only won 38 percent of his faceoffs.

Tyson Jost (B-) – Started off slow, like the rest of his team, but he got better as the game went along. Picked up an assist.

Sven Andrighetto (B+) – He scored the final goal of the night, and has definitely picked up his play in the last few weeks. He’s starting to seem more like the player of last year finally.

Colin Wilson (A+) – Honestly, I still can’t believe that goal he scored. A backhander off a spin-o-rama, from long distance and in traffic? Good lord, where did that come from? I think that’s the best goal of the season.

Gabriel Bourque (B) – He got an assist in his 10:25 and generally was strong defensively. Not as many gripes about him as there once were, eh?

Matt Nieto (B) – Made a nice contribution on that first Kerfoot goal, getting a piece of Erik Johnson’s shot that made it tough for the goalie to get, leaving a nice juicy rebound in the crease for Kerfoot to put home.

Matt Calvert (B) – Pretty solid game for Calvy. Got an assist and was engaged physically. He’s a tough customer.

Tyson Barrie (X) – A performance so filthy, it gets a rare X from me. One goal, one assist and a PLUS-5. His puck possession numbers were sick too: 31 Corsi for, 16 against. That goal was certainly a big one, tying the game in the second.

Nikita Zadorov (A) – Very good game for Big Z. Had six hits, including a rubout of an Oiler behind the net, then pass up ice to Barrie for that second goal.

Erik Johnson (B+) – I thought he was better than his numbers showed (-1, negative Corsi numbers). I thought he was real good after the Avs got the lead, making safe plays.

Sam Girard (C+) – Minus-1, negative Corsi. He was fine most of the time, though. I think he’s been better down the stretch, for sure.

Ian Cole (B) – I thought, like Johnson, he was better as the game went along. Strong on the puck, made the little plays well.

Patrik Nemeth (B+) – Good solid night for Broadway. Wasn’t very noticeable, but that’s a good thing with him. Played nearly 16 minutes of good hockey.

Semyon Varlamov (B) – There were definitely some second-guessers by the end of that first period, with him getting this start. Especially, after allowing that second Edmonton goal, to Darnell Nurse. But to his credit, he made the saves after that. It’s pretty clear, based on Jared Bednar’s postgame comments, that Philipp Grubauer still holds the top spot.