Avs-Predators Grades: Close but no cigar

The Colorado Avalanche lost 4-2 to the Nashville Predators on Friday night. Below are player grades!

Sven Andrighetto (C-) – The offensive effort was great. Andrighetto looked great on that side of the puck. He was the exact opposite on defense, though, and that line’s defensive struggles cost them two goals tonight.

Tyson Barrie (B) – Life must be nice when he can just fire passes to MacKinnon and rack up points along the way. He was dangerous offensively and put six shots on goal. There were some leaky moments in transition and in decision making but overall was solid.

Gabriel Bourque (A) – Loved his effort tonight. He looked like a man determined to show his former club what was up. He earned his assist and could have had more on a night where he was a man possessed.

Blake Comeau (C+) – Some good work in all phases of the ice. His two on one with Soderberg would have tied the game but he threw a hot potato at Soderberg that was too tough to handle.

J.T. Compher (C) – He didn’t play a lot as he got moved down to the fourth line again. He missed what should have been the game’s first goal after a great play from Andrighetto.

Samuel Girard (B+) – He was all over the ice tonight. Like Bourque, there appeared to be some extra pep in his skates against his original club. He was all over the place with the puck, some good, some bad, but he was aggressive all night and that’s the Girard we haven’t seen enough of this year. More attacking and he’ll take a big leap as a player.

Tyson Jost (C-) – Like Andrighetto, there were some moments offensively that could have changed this game but they didn’t convert. Did not look good protecting his own end of the ice.

Alexander Kerfoot (D) – I think Kerfoot needs a night off. He looks mentally and physically spent. His best contribution of the night was a line change that allowed Landeskog to jump onto the ice and score the second goal. Good recognition but he needs more.

Gabriel Landeskog (B+) – In a game with playoff intensity, he rose to the occasion. His goal was just the kind of hardworking score the Avs struggle to generate. He played a physical, nasty style against a team that wanted to physically intimidate the Avalanche. His biggest negative was being bad in the faceoff circle, which…why is your left winger taking nine faceoffs?

Nathan MacKinnon (B-) – He scored, which was great. He put six shots on goal. He was dangerous. But he also fumbled a lot of pucks and made a whole bevy of bad decisions that turned into Nashville possessions – and a goal against.

Patrik Nemeth (C) – Another night where I just didn’t notice too much from him, which is the ultimate goal for a player of his style.

Matt Nieto (C) – He was all over the place at times and had one great scoring chance that he jammed straight into Saros’ pads. Props for being in good position, negative props for doing nothing with the chance.

Mikko Rantanen (D) – I really didn’t notice him in any kind of good ways tonight. He was sluggish on defense, he was fumbling pucks on offense, he was far too hesitant to shoot on the power play, and he wasn’t active in getting into shooting positions. Sleepy game for No. 96.

Duncan Siemens (D) – Turnovers and icings are going to be what keeps him from an extended NHL career. He’s just no good reacting to puck pressure.

Carl Soderberg (C+) – He was physical and driven tonight, which is the recipe for Good Carl. Instead, we got Not Quite Good Enough Carl, the weird half-measure that only gets a C+ for his efforts.

Dominic Toninato (B) – He drew a penalty from PK Subban that was a fun exchange if nothing else. He played a pretty good game overall to my eyes. I’m not sure it was good enough to hold off Vladislav Kamenev, who returns to Denver tomorrow.

Semyon Varlamov (C) – He just wasn’t quite good enough tonight. That short side nonsense Sissons got on the first goal is an area he’s been getting beat with regularity in the last month and that’s a real problem. He saw just 27 shots but three got past him. Not good enough.

David Warsofsky (D) – Another assist in which his contributions were, ahhhhh, very limited. Another game where he looked like the AHL veteran that he is.

Nikita Zadorov (C-) – This was a fun night for Z. He was active with the body, throwing hits in the corners with regularity. The guy had seven hits! He was a walking bruise maker for the Avalanche. But that defense in front of his own net on the first Forsberg goal is inexcusable. When you’re built like a souped-up version of Ivan Drago, you shouldn’t be trying to engage in pithy stick battles with high-skill forwards. An eighth hit might have prevented a goal against.